I 


PRINCETON,    N.    J. 


% 


Shelf. 


BX  8937  .B76  1855  copy  1 
Brown,  Isaac  V.  1784-1861. 
A  historical  vindication  of 
the  abrogation  of  the  plan 


i 


EECOMMENDATIONS. 


From,  the  Evangelical  Repository. 

In  this  volume  we  have  at  first  a  brief  historical  sketch  of  the  Pres- 
byterian Church  in  this  country,  the  object  of  which  is  to  show  that  the 
founders  of  the  Church  in  this  western  world  held  principles  that  were 
utterly  at  war  with  those  incorporated  into  the  Plan  of  Union  between 
that  Church  and  the  Congregational  Churches  of  New  England.  The 
inference  from  this  is,  that  the  New-school  Presbyterian  Church,  which 
incorporates  that  basis,  cannot  be,  as  it  assumes  to  be,  the  "  Constitu- 
tional Church."  The  author  then  takes  up  the  Plan  of  Union,  which 
was  entitled,  "  A  Plan  of  Union  for  the  New  Settlements,"  and  shows, 
we  think,  very  satisfactorily,  that  it  was  designed  to  be  only  a  tem- 
porary arrangement.  He  then  considers  the  Plan  itself,  and  discusses, 
with  much  force  and  ability,  its  unconstitutional  character,  and  then  in 
the  rest  of  the  work  vindicates,  at  great  length,  the  action  of  the  As- 
sembly in  abrogating  it.  In  this  discussion,  the  various  acts  of  the 
Church  courts  in  relation  to  the  difficulties  which  resulted  in  the  divi- 
sion of  the  Assembly,  are  given,  and  made  the  subject  of  extended  re- 
marks. Mr.  Brown  appears  to  have  had  an  active  part  in  these  trying 
scenes,  and  is  particularly  familiar  with  their  history  in  all  its  details. 
We  think  he  has  done  the  cause  of  sound  Presbyterianism  good  service 
in  the  publication  of  this  work.  The  reading  of  this  book  has  im- 
pressed us  deeply  with  the  sense  of  the  danger  of  departing,  for  pur- 
poses of  expediency,  from  the  scriptural  and  well  established  principles 
of  a  Church.     We  highly  commend  it  to  the  attention  of  our  readers. 


From  the  Presbyterian  Advocate,  Louisville. 

The  author  of  this  volume  was  an  ardent  defender  of  old-fashioned 
Presbyterianism,  in  the  trying  times  of  1837  and  '38,  and  was  a  pro- 
minent actor  in  many  of  the  events  described  by  him.  His  volume  is 
chiefly  valuable  from  the  fact,  that  it  embodies  a  much  larger  number  of 
documents  belonging  to  the  period  of  which  it  treats,  and  which  can 
only  be  found  scattered  through  the  old  files  of  newspapers,  than  any 
other  volume  that  has  been  prepared  on  the  subject.  Those  who  wish 
to  be  posted  up  in  the  Old  and  New-school  controversy,  will  find  it 


invaluable  as  a  book  of  reference.  The  author  gives  not  merely  his 
own  opinions  and  impressions,  but  also  the  documents  on  which  those 
opinions  are  based. 


From  the  Presbyterian  of  the  West. 

This  volume  appears  opportunely.  The  self-styled  old  basis — or, 
as  we  would  say,  the  old  Plan  of  Union  Presbyterians,  are  attempting 
to  renew  the  agitation  of  the  questions  of  1837  and  1838.  Mr.  Brown 
has  made  a  triumphant  defence  of  our  action.  He  shows,  that  there 
were  questions  of  order  and  doctrine  of  vital  importance,  the  proper 
disposition  of  which  required  the  reform  measures  which  were  adopted 
by  the  Assembly.  Those  who  would  acquaint  themselves  with  the 
true  state  of  the  facts,  in  regard  to  the  division  of  the  Church,  will  do 
well  to  procure  this  volume.     We  have  read  it  with  much  interest. 


From  the  Preshyterian  Advocate,  Pittshurgh. 

This  volume  is  from  the  pen  of  the  Rev.  I.  V.  Brown  of  New  Jer- 
sey, It  aims  to  vindicate  the  several  reforms  of  1837,  more  particu- 
larly the  abrogation  of  the  Plan  of  Union,  and  the  acts  which  followed 
that  salutary  measure.  In  twenty -four  chapters,  the  narrative  details 
the  grievances  and  dangers  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  and  the  vari- 
ous providential  interferences  in  favour  of  the  Old-school,  and  which 
ultimately  issued  in  their  peaceful  possession  of  the  property,  by  Judge 
Gibson's  decision.  It  is  an  instixictive  work,  and  should  be  widely 
circulated. 


From  the  Presbyterian. 

Mr.  Brown  took  an  active  part  in  the  great  controversy  which  re- 
sulted in  the  division  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  and  is,  therefore, 
well  acquainted  with  the  topics  of  which  he  treats.  He  speaks  with 
great  boldness,  and  with  some  little  of  the  spirit  of  those  days  of  agi- 
tation, but  presents  a  full  and  candid  exhibition  of  the  issues  in  the 
strife,  and  a  thorough  vindication  of  the  course  adopted  by  the  General 
Assembly.  Whilst  we  have  no  desire  to  renew  the  controversy,  we 
think  it  indispensable  that  the  truth  should  be  known,  and  in  this 
aspect  we  regard  this  as  a  valuable  publication.  It  will  be  useful  as  a 
book  of  reference,  and  will  serve  to  disabuse  minds  which  have  been 
prejudiced  by  the  untiring  efforts  of  unscrupulous  and  embittered  par- 
tizans. 


From  the  Presbyterian  Banner. 

The  readers  of  this  work  will  agree  with  us  that  it  amply  justifies 
the  author  in  the  ordinary  heading  of  his  pages,  viz.  "Old-school 


Vindicated."  The  fathers  of  the  Church  "who  moved  amid  the  scenes 
•which  are  here  depicted,  and  who  in  days  of  defection  from  the  truth 
and  order  of  Christ's  house  were  enabled  to  contend  earnestly  and 
successfully  for  the  faith  as  it  is  in  Jesus,  may  entertain  a  lively  recol- 
lection of  the  events.  The  lapse  of  eighteen  or  twenty  years,  however, 
has  raised  up  a  new  generation  in  the  Church,  who  require  and  will  be 
edified  by  the  perusal  of  a  work  like  this,  which  we  commend  very, 
heartily,  with  the  expectation  that  it  may  be  widely  circulated.  We 
hope  that  the  Church  may  speedily  be  favoured  by  the  re-publication 
in  a  collected  form,  of  the  valuable  papers  on  the  same  subject  which 
have  lately  appeared  in  the  Presbyterian  Magazine.  Both  works 
would  be  acceptably  received  by  the  community. 


TESTIMONY  OF  DR.  PHILIP  LINDSLEY. 

Dr.  Lindsley  departed  this  Irjk  soon  after  the  letter  from  which  this 
extract  is  made  loas  written. 

New  Albany,  May  3,  1855. 
Rev.  and  Dear  Sir — I  duly  received  and  carefully  read,  your  very 
able  "  Historical  Vindication,"  etc.,  for  which  I  beg  you  to  accept  my 
most  grateful  acknowledgments.  Such  a  work  was  greatly  needed  by 
the  present  generation,  and  probably,  by  not  a  few  like  myself,  of  the 
past.  I  anticipate,  and  wish  for  it,  the  widest  possible  circulation, 
among  our  churches  and  people. 

P.  Lindsley. 


From  the  PrBshyterial  Critic^ 

"  Am  I  therefore  become  your  enemy,  because  I  tell  you  the  truth  P' 
— is  the  very  pertinent  question  which  Mr.  Brown  puts  on  the  title- 
page  of  his  book — and  by  which  he  gives  fair  warning,  at  the  start,  to 
all  men,  whether  in  the  Old  or  New-school  body,  whether  Ministers, 
or  Elders,  or  Laymen,  that  he  intends  to  tell  the  truth;  and  if,  now 
and  then,  the  truth  should  bear  hard  or  seem  like  a  libel  upon  any  of 
them,  he  is  not  to  be  blamed  for  it;  they  are  not  to  make  him  an 
enemy,  because  they  had  not  faith  and  firmness  enough  to  contend  for 
the  right  in  the  hour  of  darkness  and  trial. 

The  case  is  thus  stated — "  A  great  controversv  in  the  bosom  of  one 
of  the  largest  and  most  powerful  denominations  m  the  country;  a  con- 
troversy, whose  momentous  issues,  involving  nothing  less  than  the 
essential  elements  of  the  great  scheme  of  grace  and  the  fundamental 
principles  of  Church-order,  have  naturally  awakened  the  intensest  in- 
terest of  all  concerned,  and  incidentally  roused  the  lurking  evil  in  the 
hearts  of  some  of  the  wisest  and  the  best — a  controversy,  the  nature  of 


which,  though  it  ought  to  be  clear  enough  to  all  in  its  principles,  and 
many  of  its  beneficent  results,  a  desperate  attempt  is  now  making  to 
obscure,  mystify  and  pervert — in  a  case  like  this,  we  say,  '  plainness 
of  speech'  is  greatly  to  be  commended." 


Charleston,  S.  C.  August  20,  1855. 
Rev.  Isaac  V.  Brown, 

Dear  Sir — I  yesterday  received,  by  mail,  your  very  acceptable 
present,  of  the  ''Vindication  of  the  Old-school  Presbyterians,"  for 
which  I  feel  much  obliged  to  you.  I  had  previously  been  tolerably 
posted  on  the  grounds  of  difference  between  the  two  ecclesiastical 
bodies,  but  was  never  before  afforded  the  means  of  entering  behind 
the  scenes,  and  of  seeing  all  the  details.  I  cannot  but  regard  the 
work  as  an  admirable  vindication.  Whatever  may  be  the  difference  of 
sentiment,  in  a  theological  point  of  view,  the  Christian  public  cannot 
fail  to  give  your  body  the  praise  of  honesty  of  purpose,  and  a  consci- 
entious adherence  to  the  standards  of  your  Church. 

John  Bachman. 


From  the  Author  of  Our  First  Mother,  Noah  and  his  Times,  &c. 

Rev.  Isaac  V.  Brown, 

Dear  Sir — That  your  book,  entitled  "  Vindication,"  &c.  exhibits 
ability  of  authorship,  any  one  who  reads  it  with  but  a  modicum  of  can- 
dour and  attention,  must  acknowledge.  That  such  a  work  is  much 
needed,  appears  from  the  so  general  want  of  knowledge  of  the  ecclesi- 
astical event — its  necessities,  causes,  and  consequences,  of  which  you 
treat.  What  large  numbers,  even  within  the  Presbyterian  pale,  have 
never  had  access  to  correct  and  reliable  information  upon  the  topic 
which  has  employed  your  pen. 


HISTORICAL  VINDICATION 


OP   THE 


ABKOGATION  OF  THE  PLAN  OF  UNION 


BY   THE 


QJr 


ktsh^kxm  €\ViXc\ 


IN   THE   UNITED    STATES   OF    AMERICA. 


BY   THE 

Rev.  ISAAC  V.  BROWN,  A.  M. 


Am  I   THERKFORE  BECOME   YOUR  ENEMY,  BECAUSE  I  TELL  YOU   THE  TRUTH? — Gal.  iv.  16. 


PHILADELPHIA: 
WM.   S.   k  ALFRED    MARTIEN, 

144  Chestnut  Street, 
1855. 


Eutcreil,  according  to  the  Act  of  Conjjress,  in  the  year  ISO-l,  by 

ISAAC   V.  BROWN, 

In  the  Clerk's  office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  United  States  for  the  District  of  New  Jersey. 


PREFACE, 


This  volume  aims  to  vindicate  the  reform  system  adopted  in 
the  Presbyterian  church,  May,  1837,  from  the  disingenuous  state- 
ments and  inferences  by  which  its  opposers  have  endeavored,  and 
still  strive,  to  screen  themselves  from  just  censure,  and  to  injure 
the  good  name  of  those  who  stood  foremost  in  the  decisive  hour, 
to  save  the  church  by  dispossessing  her  adversaries. 

No  true  church  can  exist  which  has  not  the  uncorrupted  word 
of  God  for  her  basis,  and  the  cardinal  doctrines  of  grace  for  her 
chief  corner  stones,  her  pedestals,  her  porches,  her  columns,  and 
her  imperishable  wall  of  defence. 

It  cannot  be  denied,  that  the  palpable  perversions  of  religious 
truth  and  moral  obligation,  the  distorted  views  of  man's  native 
powers  and  responsibilities,  which  pervade  the  whole  mass  of 
New  School  speculation  and  romance,  if  not  speedily  checked 
and  effectually  remedied  must  prove  the  programme  to  an  age  of 
infidelity,  and  introduce  upon  the  American  stage  the  shocking 
theological  panorama  of  universal  derangement  and  confusion  in 
the  elements  of  the  moral  world ;  as  a  parallel  to  which  we  may 
point  only  to  the  reign  of  terror  and  triumph  of  ungodliness  in 
the  French  Revolution,  at  the  close  of  the  last  century.  Consid- 
ering the  excitability  and  elasticitj''  of  the  American  mind,  its 
love  of  novelty  and  the  readiness  with  which  it  catches  at  theo- 
ries most  untried  and  extravagant,  this  is  a  fearful  idea.  Cases 
of  wild  fanaticism,  sufficient  to  warrant  these  unwelcome  antici- 
pations, may  be  gleaned,  not  only  from  the  history  of  New  School 
innovations  within  the  last  thirty  years,  but  from  the  recollections 
and  records  of  kindred  associations  of  visionary  and  dangerous 
errorists. 


JV  PREFACE. 

If  ihe  infatuated  men  who  led  the  New  School  defection,  in 
their  attempt  to  subjugate  the  vast  and  growing  numbers  of  the 
Presbyterian  community  to  their  power  and  influence,  had  suc- 
ceeded in  their  efforts,  none  can  tell  what  would  have  been  the 
direful  result.  It  is  justly  said,  that  "truth  is  powerful  and  will 
prevail."  But  it  is  equally  true,  that  error  is  powerful,  and  if  fur- 
nished with  loose  rein  among  the  masses,  like  a  wild  war-horse, 
will  exhibit  tremendous  power  and  havoc.  The  contest  with  this 
unbroken  and  gigantic  foe  is  difficult  and  eventful.  Let  us  can- 
didly record  the  steps  by  which  he  achieved  his  somewhat  suc- 
cessful campaign,  and  trace  the  movements  observed  by  the 
friends  of  truth  in  checking  his  disastrous  march. 

Considering  cotemporary  documents  published  by  individuals, 
by  ecclesiastical  bodies,  religious  conventions,  associations,  and 
jieriodicals,  better  adapted  than  any  thing  that  could  be  written, 
lie  novo,  to  furnish  reliable  data,  to  explain  and  confirm  every 
thing  which  it  is  important  to  know  and  to  preserve  upon  this  agi- 
tating subject,  the  writer  does  not  purpose  to  introduce  more  new 
matter  than  appears  requisite  to  keep  up  the  chain  of  evidence 
:ind  illustration,  and  to  sustain  a  due  degree  of  connexion  and 
unity  throughout  the  work.  From  the  great  mass  of  documen- 
tary publications  which  the  friends  of  truth  and  order,  at  that 
period,  had  time  and  zeal  enough  to  oppose  to  the  rushing  tide  of 
error  and  distraction  which  was  flooding  the  church,  we  shall  se- 
lect a  few  specimens  of  such  as  appeared  best  calculated  to  save 
)icr  from  the  triumphant  usurpation  of  her  invaders,  by  exposing 
the  iniquity  of  their  strides  and  the  desolation  of  their  successes. 
These  documents,  it  may  be  fairly  presumed,  will,  if  any  thing 
<:an,  exhibit  the  tempers,  motives,  and  aims  of  the  actors  in  this 
great  ecclesiastical  drama,  much  better  than  the  capricious  as- 
sumptions, special  pleadings,  or  unwarrantable  surmises  of  any 
writers  of  the  present  day.  It  is  a  consideration  of  importance, 
too,  in  this  connexion,  that  although  most  of  these  documents 
were  widely  dispersed  at  the  time  of  their  first  publication,  pro- 
bably at  least  four-fifths  of  those  now  living  and  who  are  to  judge 
•  if  these  papers,  never  had  an  opportunity  to  give  them  a  delibe- 
rate reading,  if  they  ever  saw  or  heard  of  them  at  all. 


PREFACE.  V 

The  grand  motive  which  governed  the  Presbyterian  body,  in 
Uie  abrogation  act,  was  their  love  of  the  church.  This  love  nnay 
be  resolved  into  their  love  lor  her  doctrines  and  a  love  for  her 
order.  Much  as  Presbyterian  Christians  love  gospel  truth  ami 
<;herish  its  inspiring  hopes,  it  is  probable  that  their  decisive  ac- 
tion in  the  final  hour  was  in  no  small  degree  prompted  by  their 
heart-felt  devotion  to  the  order  and  discipline  of  God's  house. 
Here  their  early  prepossessions,  their  fixed  habits,  their  pious 
sympathies,  enlivened  and  invigorated  by  constant  exercise, 
seemed  to  cluster  around  these  forms  of  devotion,  always  visible 
and  precious,  now  become  venerable  by  time,  by  usage,  by  asso- 
ciations, and  by  imminent  perils  from  rude  assailants,  seemed  ti- 
combine  their  influence,  to  invest  the  order  of  the  church  with  a 
inagnitude  of  interest  and  a  sacredness  of  attraction  subordinati- 
'>nly  to  that  which  encircled  the  charter  of  their  immortal  hopes. 

But  when  this  two-fold  force  of  attachment  to  Presbyterian- 
ism,  as  it  is,  became  concentrated  in  one  confluent,  sweeping 
stream  of  devotion  to  our  beloved  Zion,  the  mind  of  the  grear 
congregation  was  harmonized,  spirits  flowed  together  like  kin- 
dred drops,  and  moved  with  irresistible  efficiency  in  redeeming 
the  jeopardised  Ark  of  the  Lord. 

Since  a  considerable  portion  of  every  community  cherish  the 
impression  that  it  is  wrong  to  expose  the  errors  and  censure  the 
characters  of  clergymen,  as  it  tends  to  diminish  their  influence 
by  lowering  their  standing  in  society,  a  question  has  been  raised 
by  some  whether  it  is  right  to  execute  such  a  sketch  or  volume, 
as  necessarily  involves  these  results.  Is  not  the  cause  of  religion, 
they  ask,  injured  by  such  criticisms  and  exposures?  It  must  be 
admitted  that  it  has  a  chilling  influence  upon  the  faith  and  man- 
ners of  the  people  at  large,  and  upon  the  church  herself,  to  sec 
those  very  men  who  are  set  as  patterns  and  defenders  of  truth, 
purity,  and  fidelity  to  trust ;  foremost  in  daring  and  prominence 
to  propagate  errors,  violate  pledges,  rend  peaceful  communities. 
:ind  shamelessly  deny  or  pervert  those  great  truths  of  the  Chris- 
tian religion,  which  they  are  bound  by  most  solemn  sanctions  to 
cherish  and  protect.  Truths  and  obligations  which  their  leader:- 
.^port  with,  the  people  will  lightly  esteem.     This  dissatisfaction 


VI  PREFACE. 

with  strict  scrutiny  into  the  principles  and  conduct  of  clergynnen, 
is  founded,  in  part,  upon  indifference  to  pure,  consistent  religion ; 
and  still  more,  upon  the  false  assumption  that  it  is  no  matter  what 
a  man,  or  even  a  minister  believes,  provided  he  is  tolerably  cor- 
rect in  his  opinions  and  actions.  But  sound  theologians  and  mor- 
alists believe  that  trulh  is  in  order  to  godliness,  and  that  the  life 
cannot  be  right  where  the  head,  if  not  the  heart  is  wrong. 

It  is  true,  that  great  tenderness  is  to  be  manifested  for  the  repu- 
tation of  aggressors  of  this  class  against  public  truth  and  order,  and 
we  should  exercise  due  caution  against  taking  up  an  evil  impres- 
sion or  belief  against  them  on  insufficient  grounds ;  but  where  the 
offence  is  public,  notorious,  repeated,  and  long  continued,  nay, 
publicly  confirmed  and  sealed  by  their  signature  and  irrevocable 
attestation,  the  offences,  complained  of,  become  not  only  undoubt- 
ed as  to  their  reality,  but  aggravatedly  criminal  and  pernicious. 
In  such  cases  we  cannot  but  think  that  it  is  rather  an  honour,  than 
an  injury,  to  religion,  that  some  can  be  found  diligent  and  labori- 
ous enough  to  detect,  bold  enough  to  reprove,  and  faithful  enough 
to  withstand,  if  possible,  the  error  and  iniquity  with  which  the 
church  is  flooded  and  the  world  threatened.  What  other  resort 
against  error  and  evil  has  the  church,  the  cause  of  truth,  the  tes- 
limony  of  God,  in  this  evil  world  ?  Is  it  a  course  more  salutary 
in  itself  and  conformed  to  the  actions  of  prudent  men,  in  other 
matters  of  importance,  to  permit  the  insidious  errors  complained 
of  to  lie  in  concealment,  gradually  but  incessantly,  like  the  deadly 
cancer,  striking  its  roots  deeper  and  deeper,  shooting  its  fatal 
ramifications  more  difllisively  and  mortally  in  every  direction, 
and  working  out  the  work  of  death  in  a  steallhful  and  malignant 
progress,  which  timely  attention  and  appropriate  remedies  might 
have  arrested?  On  the  whole,  if  offences,  in  certain  ministers 
of  the  gospel,  are  detected  and  exposed,  to  the  scandal  of  reli- 
gion, it  is  the  crime  which  creates  the  scandal;  its  exposure  is 
only  the  remedy. 

ISAAC  \.  BROWN. 
Trento.v,  June,  1854. 


INTRODUCTION. 


CHAPTER   I. 

New  School  charge  of  intolerance  refuted — ^Kev.  F.  Mackemie,  the  founder 
of  Presbyterian  Church,  about  1680,  Calvinistic— Immigrants  numer- 
ous— Creeds  and  subscriptions  to  them — Reasons  for  it — Adopting  act, 
1729 — Object  to  exclude  heresy — Its  character  explained — Confession  of 
Faith  and  Westminster  Catechisms  adopted  as  standards — New  England 
orthodox  early — The  first  Presbytery  formed  1704,  in  Philadelphia — 
The  Synod  of  .Philadelphia  1716 — Both  sound  in  the  faith — Whole  Pres- 
byterian body  orthodox — Never  intolerant — English,  Dutch,  Scotch,  Irish 
and  French  settlers  multiplied — The  schism  which  existed  in  the  old 
Svnod  healed,  1758 — General  Assembly  formed,  1789 — The  work  of  mis- 
sions immediately  commenced. 

The  work  of  bringing  together  into  one  condensed  view,  the 
scattered  fragnaents  which  must  form  and  exhibit  the  true  origin 
and  character  of  the  great  Presbyterian  family  of  Christians  in 
the  United  States  of  America,  was  long  since  pronounced  by  the 
General  Assembly,  on  many  accounts,  very  difficult,  while  very 
desirable.  From  the  youthfulness  of  the  country ;  the  wide  and 
thin  dispersion  of  the  people  over  an  extensive  area;  the  imper- 
fect organization  and  frequent  changes  occurring  in  our  infant 
ecclesiastical  communities;  the  negligence  and  inaccuracy  which 
marked  most  of  the  early  records  to  be  found ;  the  confusion  and 
destruction  of  documents  occasioned  by  the  Revolutionary  war . 
ihe  whole  subject  was  invested  with  the  character  of  peculiar 
''omplexness  and  difficulty,  so  as  to  present  to  any  writer  an  un- 
inviting field  of  labor.  About  the  commencement  of  the  present 
century,  the  General  Assembly  being  overlured  to  take  measure> 
lo  supply  this  desideratiwi,  e-Kpressed  an  importunate  request  that 
a  suitable  writer  to  perform  this  task  would  undertake  it.  The 
lequest  proved  unsuccessful,  and  the  work,  after  a  short  interim, 
was  respectfully  committed  to  E.  Hazard,  Esq.,  of  Philadelphia, 
and  all  available  documents  and  facilities  were  placed  at  his  dis- 
jiosal.  Mr.  Hazard  spent  much  time  and  labor  in  collecting  from 
Presbyterial  records,  from  congregations  and  tlieir  pastors,  in  the 


8  OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED. 

ionn  of  extracts  and  letters,  materials  for  the  work  to  a  consid- 
erable amount.  But  failing  to  accomplish  the  task,  and  com- 
plaining of  its  burdensome  nature,  it  was  transferred  to  Dr.  Ash- 
bel  Green,  who  had  been  some  time  his  voluntary  associate  iu 
this  labor,  and  was  for  a  long  period  his  bosom  friend.  Dr. 
Green,  after  some  trial,  not  finding  it  practicable  to  prosecute  tl»e 
Task  with  as  .much  success  as  he  desired,  in  consequence  of  the 
multiplicity  of  his  pastoral  duties  and  the  feebleness  of  his  health, 
the  trust  was,  by  his  request,  tendered  to  Dr.  Samuel  Miller,  Pro- 
fessor of  the  Theological  Seminary,  at  Princeton,  in  the '  hope 
that  he  might  find  time  to  fulfill  what  his  predecessors  in  this 
charge  had  failed  to  accomplish,  especially  as  it  fell  within  the 
sphere  of  his  official  labors  as  historian  of  that  institution ;  which 
relation  brought  him  into  close  alliance  with  the  Presbyterian 
Church.  But  providential  circumstances  finally  placed  the  mate- 
rials, so  far  as  collected  for  this  work,  in  hands  adapted  to  secure 
its  prompt  and  faithful  performance.* 

While  attempting,  in  this  preliminary  sketch,  to  bring  to  light, 
to  some  extent,  the  primary  features  of  early  and  progressive 
Presbyterianism,  in  her  forming  period,  it  is  not  our  object  or  in- 
tention to  attempt  a  general  history  of  the  church  ;  but  rather  to 
repel  the  slanderous  imputations  cast  by  New  School  men  and 
hooks  upon  the  founders  of  our  church,  and  false  constructions 
applied  to  their  theological  principles  and  ecclesiastical  measures. 

The  charges  and  perversions  here  referred  to  have  had  a  wide 
circulation,  through  the  channels  frequented  by  New  School  wri- 
ters in  general ;  but  recently  they  have  been  comprised  within 
narrower  limits,  and  in  more  specific  form,  by  a  small  and 
very  feeble  volume,  executed  by  "A  Committee  of  the  Synod  of 
ISqw  York  and  New  Jersey,  (as  they  call  themselves,)  published 
by  IM.  W.  Dodd,  New  York,  1852."  Of  this  volume,  denomina- 
ted "A  history  of  the  division  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the 
United  States  of  America,"  G.  N.  Judd  appears  to  ov/n  the  copy- 
right, and  is  understood  to  have  been  the  writer,  under  the  control 
and  supervision  of  the  Synodical  Committee. 

In  regard  to  the  title,  "  Division  of  the  Church,"  it  ought  to  be 
observed,  that  it  conveys  a  mistaken  idea  of  the  great  ecclesias- 
tical measure  of  1837.  An  amicable  division  of  the  church  was 
proposed  by  the  majority  at  that  meeting  of  the  General  Assem- 

*  Dr.  Charles  Hodge,  of  the  same  Seminary,  has  from  the  scant  mate- 
rials furnished  him,  and  others  gleaned  by  great  industry  from  many  sour- 
ces, as  his  referenc  es  show,  elaborated  a  valuable  historical  compend  of 
the  origin,  progress  and  establishment  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  in  two 
%'oluines,  8vo,  entitled  "  Constitutional  History  of  the  Presbyterian  Church 
in  the  United  States  of  America."  Pubiished.,  1839,  by  Wm.  S.  Martien, 
Philadelphia. 


OLD  SCHOOL  vindicated;  9 

bly,  but  it  was  never  accepted  or  ratified.  After  the  abrogation 
and  excision  she  was  precisely  the  sanne  as  before,  only  dimin- 
ished in  numbers.  Indeed,  she  lived  unimpaired  and  unchanged 
through  that  afflicting  crisis ;  came  out  of  thai  fiery  trial  and  now 
exists  and  rejoices  in  a  condition  of  perfect  identity  with  her  for- 
mer state,  in  every  feature  and  lineament ;  more  pure,  more  con- 
solidated, more  harmonious,  more  prosperous  than  ever  before. 
The  only  change  in  the  sacred  edifice  consisted  in  knocking  away 
a  rotten  and  baseless  lean-to,  which  our  fathers  had  unwisely 
erected  to  sustain  the  building  before  completed,  but  which  was 
discovered  to  be  working  out  its  downfall  every  day. 

With  regard  to  the  kindred  term,  "  Constitutional  Church,"  ab- 
surdly assumed  by  the  New  School,  after  the  fall  of  their  decayed 
cabin,  it  is  in  the  highest  degree  inappropriate  and  deceptive. 
Their  whole  course  of  action  in  the  Presbyterian  body,  while 
nominally  connected  with  it,  exhibited  strong  outlines  of  disorder, 
and  most  of  their  closing  movements  presented  traits  of  outra- 
geous disregard  to  all  law  and  decency.  The  sequel  will  confirm 
these  statements. 

The  New  School  brethren  have  not  only  assumed  to  themselves 
most  undeserved  names  and  distinctions,  but  they  have  profusely 
heaped  upon  the  Old  School  most  unwarrantable  and  offensive 
appellations,  going  far  back ;  upon  the  church  of  Scotland  vul- 
gar names — "sour  orthodoxy,  stiff  Scotch  Presbyterianism,  nar- 
row prejudices,  antiquated  notions,  foreign  elements,"  &c.  And 
upon  the  orthodox  of  more  modern  times,  "  relaxation  from  tol- 
erant principles,  departure  from  a  liberal  spirit,"  &c.  And  Dr. 
Judd,  in  the  same  kind  temper,  attempts  to  brand  those  of  the 
present  day  with  opprobrious  epithets — "ambition,  bigotry,  de- 
sire of  power,  ultraism,  unconstitutionality,  high  churchism, 
wholesale  slander,"  and  other  similar  distinctions,  which  indicate 
quite  a  genius,  taste  and  relish  for  calling  hard  names.  The 
charge  of  intolerance,*  which  is  as  comprehensive,  significant 
and  odious  as  any  that  could  be  selected,  he  makes  quite  thread- 
bare. 

Indeed  the  charge  of  intolerance  is  repeated  so  often,  with  a 
degree  of  bitterness  and  positiveness,  that  may  induce  some  un- 
wary readers  to  believe  there  is  some  truth  in  it.  Hence  we 
shall  feel  obligated  to  take  some  pains  to  show  the  utter  falseness 
of  this  injurious  insinuation. 

When  facts  are  examined  and  the  character  of  our  theological 
fathers  is  placed  in  its  true  light,  according  to  evidence,  their  de- 
famers  will  be  disappointed  in  their  hopes  of  finding  a  sanction 
for  their  laxness  in  church  discipline  and  unsoundness  in  Chris- 

*  Division  of  the  Church,  pp.  88,  90,  91  92,  &c. 


10  OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED. 

tian  doctrine,  in  the  false  allegation  or  pretence  that  the  founders 
of  our  church  were  coaipromising  men,  satisfied  with  agreennent 
in  a  few  doctrinal  "  heads,"  or  thoughts. 

The  allegation  is  two-fold,  uiz :  That  the  original  stock  or 
founders  of  the  church  were  latitudinarians,  or  indifferentists, 
with  regard  to  creeds  and  principles;  and,  that  the  present  gen- 
eration of  orthodox  Presbyterians  are  bigoted  and  intolerant, 
having  departed  from  "  the  liberal  and  accommodating  princi- 
ples" adopted  and  observed  by  their  early  ecclesiastical  prede- 
cessors and  fathers.  The  first  class  they  set  up  as  a  model  for 
themselves,  in  accommodating  laxness  of  theological  principle; 
and  the  latter  they  charge  with  rancorous  and  intolerant  hostility 
to  all  who  differ  from  themselves.     Both  charges  are  unfounded. 

The  assertion,  so  arrogantly  employed,  that  the  founders  of  the 
church  were  lax,  compromising,  or  accommodating,  in  regard  to 
theological  creeds  and  tenets,  is  so  serious  as  to  demand  scru- 
tiny. A  fair  exhibition  of  the  sound  orthodoxy  of  the  Presbyte- 
rian Church  from  the  beginning,  will  refute  both  branches  of  this 
New  School  slander — disgusting  laxness,  sanctioning  error,  on 
the  one  side,  and  excessive  rigor,  constituting  intolerance,  on  the 
other.  Now,  the  fact  is,  that  neither  indifferentism  nor  intole- 
rance was  ever  a  prevalent  feature  of  the   Presbyterian  Churcli. 

As  our  principnl  object,  at  this  point,  is  to  refute  the  spurious 
charge  of  Dr.  Judd  against  the  founders  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church,  we  shall  go  no  farther  back  than  to  his  place  of  begin- 
ning.* "  It  will  be  found  upon  reference  to  the  history  of  by- 
gone days,  that  on  the  6th  of  April,  1691,  the  Presbyterian  and 
Congregational  denominatif)ns  oi^  Christians,  in  Great  Britain,  met 
at  Stepney,  and  tho'e,  by  the  blessing  of  Almighty  God,  after 
talking  over  their  differences  and  their  agreements,  consummated 
a  union  of  the  two  denominations,  b\'  adopting  what  was  then 
called  '  Heads  of  Agreement,'  embiacing  a  few  cardinal  princi- 
ples, which  were  to  govern  them  in  their  fraternal  intercourse." 
No  book  on  this  subject,  accessible  to  us,  defines  these  ''  heads  " 
of  agreement.  Certain  it  is,  from  living  records,  that  multitudes 
of  F'resbyterians,  eminent  for  talents  and  piety,  of  both  the  puri- 
ian  and  independent  denominations,  existed  previous  to  1691,  in 
various  parts  of  England.  Dr.  Judd,  without  assigning  any 
satisfactory  authority,  or  furnishing  any  explanation,  sets  up  that 
an'reement  of  1691  as  the  standard  of  all  religious  opinions  every 
where,  and  endeavors  to  make  the  impression  that  the  Stepney 
Assembly,  by  their  influence,  impressed  the  stamp  of  their  theo- 
logical views  upon  the  infant  settlements  of  Presbyterians  in  these 
United  States,  so  as  to  establish  their  religious  character,  even  at 

■r-^  Division  of  the  Church,  p.  84. 


OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED.  11 

the  present  time.  Indeed,  he  claims  some  of  the  first  Presbyteries 
formed  in  America  as  the  offspring  of  the  London  Association  of 
1691,  and  then  institutes  the  charge,  that  the  orthodox  of  this 
country  have  "  rashly  departed  from  the  liberal  and  fraternal  prin- 
ciples" of  1091,  in  which  they  were  organized.  He  adds  after- 
wards, in  the  same  connexion,  (p.  84,)  that  the  first  Presbytery 
in  America  was  formed  in  1704,  by  the  name  of  the  Presbytery 
of  Philadelphia,  upon  the  "  liberal  principles  which  governed  the 
London  Association."  On  the  following  page  he  speaks  of  the 
same  company  as  "  establishing  a  modified  Presbyterianism  in 
America."  The  inference  which  he  evidently  aims  to  have  drawn 
from  these  statements,  is,  that  these  remote  transatlantic  move- 
ments exerted  a  controlling  and  directing  influence  in  the  intro- 
duction of  Presbyterianism  into  these  United  States. 

Now,  the  truth  is,  that  London  Association  had  nothing  to  do 
W'ith  the  founding  or  forming  of  our  American  Presbyterianism  ; 
it  may,  and  not  improbably  had  some  influence,  at  a  later  day,  in 
corrupting  it.  The  Rev.  Francis  Mackemie,  the  true  founder  of  our 
church,  was  here  on  the  ground,  engaged  in  this  noble  Christian 
enterprise,  about  eight  years  before  the  London  Association  met. 

Dr.  Judd,  and  all  who  sympathize  with  him  on  this  point,  un- 
consciously admit  their  own  degeneracy  and  departure  from 
sound  standards,  by  setting  up  the  more  lax  compromise  scheme 
of  London  as  the  grand  predominating  model  for  our  religious 
principles  at  that  early  period.  He  advocates  and  eulogises  that 
plan  because  he  thinks  it  was  much  more  flexible  and  accommo- 
dating than  Calvinistic  standards  ;  lower  than  our  American  plat- 
form in  doctrinal  soundness. 

The  evidence  in  favor  of  Mr.  Mackemie  as  the  "  founder  of 
Presbyterianism  in  these  United  States,"  is  so  decisive  that  honest 
New  School  men  admit  it.  But  then,  to  nullify  the  force  of  that 
admission  against  themselves,  they  attempt  to  impair  his  high 
character  by  branding  him  "  as  a  loose  Presbyterian."  If  this 
suggestion  were  true,  they  could  claim  him  as  a  shield  for  their 
own  defaults  and  obliquities.  But  this  is  out  of  the  question. 
First  in  the  field  among  us,  he  was  first  in  rank,  first  in  zeal,  first 
in  action,  unquestioned  in  theological  soundness  ;  by  his  influence 
he  formed  the  first  Presbytery  in  Philadelphia.  He  was  the  prin- 
cipal instrument  in  bringing  Presbyterianism  into  New  York,  and 
history  tells  us  he  was  imprisoned  thei'c  on  account  of  it. 

The  fact  has  recently  been  ascertained  that  "  a  gentleman  in 
Maryland,  beside  Virginia,"  wrote  to  the  Presbytery  of  Lagan,  in 
Ireland,  IG80,  requesting  them  to  send  a  minister  or  missionary 
to  the  district  where  he  resided.  That  gentleman  was  Col.  Ste- 
vens, whose  grave  and  sepulchral  inscription  have  been  discov- 
ered.    In  consequence  of  that  invitation,  IMr.  Mackemie  visited 


12  OLD  SCHOOL  vindicated; 

Accomac,  Virginia,  and  was  prominently  engaged  in  settling  that 
county,  about  the  year  1690.  And  yet  the  London  Association 
had  never  met.  Still  the  New  School  writers  of  the  present  day 
are  ignorant,  or  preposterous  enough,  to  insist  that  this  very  Mac- 
kemie  was  an  agent  or  missionary  of  that  Union  to  plant  the 
gospel  in  America.* 

The  arguments  which  New  School  men  have  used  to  prove 
iiis  mission  to  this  country  by  the  club  which  met  in  London,  1691, 
have  all  proved  to  be  fallacious;  and  the  charge  brought  against 
his  strict  orthodoxy,  or  adherence  to  Calvinistic  doctrines,  equally 
unfounded.  His  views  of  religious  experience  are  untinctured 
with  any  unsound  adinixtures  or  suspicious  elements.  His  pub- 
lications on  the  cardinal  doctrines  of  the  gospel  prove  his  agree- 
ment with  the  Westminster  Confession.  This  he  openly  avowed 
when  interrogated  on  the  subject  in  high  places,  with  menace  and 
peril.  This  decided  and  fearless  Presbyterianism  is  such  as  was 
to  be  expected  from  a  minister  of  the  gospel,  who  had  been  borr;, 
educated  and  ordained  amidst  scrutinies  and  trials.  The  Presby- 
tery of  Lagan,  in  L^eland,  which  inducted  him  into  the  ministry, 
encountered  sutfering  among  their  members  from  the  government 
fur  iheir  rigid  adherence  to  unadulterated  orthodoxy,  and  corres- 
ponding forms  of  devotion.  The  whole  religious  texture  and 
constitution  of  JMr.  Mackemie  were  such  as  to  fortify  him  against 
prelatic  persecutions  and  popish  terrors ;  to  make  him  a  shining 
light  in  propagating  religious  principle,  and  pre-eminent  in  every 
field  of  evangelic  effort ;  a  bold  and  fearless  vindicator  of  his  sa- 
cred creed  before  hostile  judges  and  governors  ;  a  dying  witness, 
if  not  martyr,  to  the  excellence  and  glory  of  the  Old  School  sys- 
tem, in  which  he  had  been  nurtured  from  the  cradle,  and  in  pro- 
pagating which  he  had  spent  his  life. 

That  Mr.  Mackemie  was  instrumental  in  organizing  the  first 
Presbytery  of  Philadelphia,  is  too  plain  to  be  questioned  ;  and 
that  he  brought  out  twoj  members  of  that  body  from  the  North 
of  Ireland  aboul  1705,  is  positively  asserted  on  good  evidence. 

"'  For  several  of  the  facts  here  recited,  see  Presbyterian  Magazine,  Phil- 
adelphia, vol.  III.,  No.  G,  pp.,  90—94.     By  C.  Van  llensselaer,  D.  D. 

From  an  article  in  the  Presbyterian,  May  20th  ultimo,  we  perceive  that 
Dr.  Spotswood,  in  a  statement  made  at  the  dedication  of  a  new  church  at 
Ivewcastle,  Delaware,  claims  the  old  church  recently  taken  down  as  the 
oldest  Presljyterian  church  erected  on  this  continent.  But  it  appears  after- 
wards that  the  old  church  was  built  at  lirst,  1G34,  by  Swedes  ;  the  Dutch 
some  time  afterwards  succeeded  in  occupying  that  church.  Neither  the 
time  nor  manner  of  transferring  the  chuit-h  to  the  Presbyterians  is  at  all 
stated.  Dr.  Spotswood  at  the  same  time  a.lleges  that  the  first  church  in 
Philadeluhia  was  built  about  1701.  Its  erection  has  been  generally  dated 
at  17  J4.  ■ 

tJno.  Hampton  and  George  McNish. 


OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED.  13 

The  famous  Jedediah  Andrews,  pastor  of  the  First  Church  in 
Philadelphia,  was  a  member  of  the  first  Presbytery.  Mr.  Judd 
claims  him  and  says,  "the  first  Presbytery  in  America  was  formed 
in  1704,  by  the  name  of  the  Presbytery  of  Philadelphia,  upon  the 
liberal  principles  which  governed  the  London  Association,  and 
was  composed  partly  of  Presbyterian  and  partly  of  Congrega- 
tional ministers  and  churches.  The  Rev.  Jedediah  Andrews,  the 
first  pastor  of  the  first  Presbyterian  church  in  Philadelphia,  was 
one  of  the  original  members  of  this  Presbytery,  and  decidedly 
favorable  to  Congregational  church  governn>ent,"*  This  Presby- 
tery, at  its  first  erection,  was  composed  of  seven  members,  and 
Mr.  Hazard  in  his  MS.  history  says,  "It  is  probable  that  all, 
except  Mr.  Andrews,  were  foreigners  by  birth,  and  that  they  were 
ordained  to  the  Gospel  ministry  in  Scotland  and  Ireland."  D\\ 
Van  Rensselaer  and  Dr.  Hodge  agree  in  stating  that  Mr.  Andrews 
was  from  Massachusetts — a  man  of  great  labor  and  influence  in 
the  Presbytery — orthodox  in  doctrine — and  in  every  season  of 
difficulty  he  was  found  on  the  Old  side.  Hence,  Mr.  Judd's  state- 
ment that  the  first  Presbytery  was,  in  part,  constituted  of  Con- 
gregational materials,  proves  contrary  to  facts. 

We  are  warranted,  then,  in  recording  it  as  an  established  trutii, 
in  this  compilation  of  our  church's  early  history,  that  its  first 
Presbytery,  and  the  founders  of  it,  were  Calvinislic  in  principle; 
and  we  now  state  what  is  equally  clear,  that  the  Synod  of  Phila- 
delphia, organized  about  the  year  1716,  was  undoubtedly  of  the 
same  character — because,  if  for  no  other  reason,  she  was  sub- 
stantially of  the  same  materials.  It  contained,  at  first,  seventeen 
members,  among  whom  "  Old  School  Presbyterianism  and  ortho- 
doxy" maintained  their  strength  and  influence  in  full  proportion. 

While  these  transactions  and  many  others  akin  to  them,  were 
occurring  in  the  city  and  vicinity  of  Philadelphia,  immigration  to 
the  New  England  States,  and  to  parts  of  New  York  and  Nevv^ 
Jersey,  was  rapidly  progressing.  This  newly-discovered  country 
was  considered  in  Europe  as  the  asylum  of  the  persecuted  and 
refuge  of  the  oppressed,  both  for  religious  and  political  freedom. 
Hence,  large  companies  of  English  puritans — of  Dutch  settlers — 
of  Scotch  and  Irish  emigrants — and,  after  the  revocation  of  the 
edict  of  Nantes,  large  companies  of  French  Protestants,  gladly- 
flocked  hither,  to  secure  to  themselves  and  their  children  that 
religious  liberty  and  those  rights  of  conscience  which  were  denied 
them  in  their  native  lands. 

These  emigrants  of  every  nation,  were,  for  the  greater  part, 
a  population  of  decidedly  religious  character — of  much  intelli- 
gence— of  property  and  honour — of  moderation  and  order.    They 

*  See  Presbyterian,  p.  94.    Judd,  p.  84. 


14  OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED. 

fixed  their  homes,  many  in  New  England,  some  at  New  Paltz 
and  New  Rochelle,  some  on  Long  Island,  others  on  Staten  Island,"^ 
and  in  eastern  and  central  New  Jersey.  The  descendants  from 
these  colonists  are  numerous  and  distinguishable  still.  These 
having  felt  the  sting  of  persecution  and  yoke  of  oppression  in  their 
father-lands,  cannot  rationally  be  supposed,  either  speedily  to  have 
forgotten  their  wrongs  and  their  sufferings,  or  to  have  been  very 
ready  to  attempt,  by  violence,  to  impose  upon  the  consciences  of 
others,  the  fetters  and  the  tortures  they  had  so  recently  escaped. 
And  Dr.  Hodge  says  of  those  who  early  joined  the  Synod,  in 
addition  to  those  constituting  the  Presbytery  of  Philadelphia — 
"  Some  were  among  the  strictest  of  the  whole  body,  and  not  one 
of  them  was  a  Congregationalist,  or  inclined  to  Congregational- 
ism."    p.  97,  Vol.  1. 

Men  of  such  character,  faith  and  morals,  arriving,  in  succession, 
in  increasing  numbers,  became  the  component  parts  of  the  Pres- 
byterian body,  wherever  they  went.  And  they  sustain  this  char- 
acter to  the  present  day.  The  faith  of  the  Church  of  Scotland 
was  thoroughly  understood  and  highly  appreciated  in  all  Protest- 
ant lands,  and  not  less  so  in  these  United  States.  Calvinism  was 
the  polar  star  of  these  colonists — the  cardinal  feature  of  the  faith 
they  insisted  on. 

*  To  the  colony  of  that  name,  which  settled,  soon  after  the  revocation, 
around  where  the  city  of  Richmond  now  stands,  on  Staten  Island,  the 
writer  traces  his  genealogical  extraction — the  ancestors  of  both  his  paternal 
great  grand  parents,  having  been  fully  embraced,  under  appropriate 
names,  in  tliat  company  of  Huguenots. 

An  interesting  account  of  this  colony  is  furnished  by  Mr.  Charles  Weiss, 
Historian  of  the  "  French  Protestant  Refugees" :  Vol.  I.,  pp.  314-20. 
While  many  successive  groups  located  themselves  in  New  Paltz,  New 
Rochelle,  and  New  York,  "Staten  Island,  thai  enchanting  spot,  in  the 
beautiful  bay  of  New  York,  became  a  fiivorite  asylum  for  the  French 
Protestants.  It  should  be  called  the  Huguenot  Island.  As  far  as  we  can 
ascertain,  they  reached  this  region  in  considerable  numbers  about  the  year 
1675,  with  a  pastor,  and  erected  a  church  near  Richmond  village.  Few 
regions  are  l^lessed  with  more  churches.  Most  of  the  official  and  zealous 
mem])ers  of  these  churches  were  lineal  branches  of  the  French  Protestants. 
Clianning  More,  former  Bishop  of  Virginia,  was  connected  with  this 
colony.  'Dr.  Bedell,  father  of  the  gentleman  of  that  name  now  in  New 
York,  was  of  the  same  origin  on  the  maternal  side.'" 

The  following  Huguenot  names  occur  in  the  records  of  Staten  Island — 
Fontaine,  Eezemi,  La  Tourette,  Bedell,  Poulon,  Mercereau,  La  Conte, 
Perrin.  Those  who  sympathize  with  the  late  Rev.  A.  Eezeau  Brown,  of 
Lawrenceville,  son  of  the  writer,  who  fell  an  early  victim  of  pulmonary 
disease,  a  Biographical  Notice  of  whom  was  written  and  published  by 
Rev.  James  W.  Alexander,  A.  D.  1833,  in  the  Biblical  Repertory,  will 
detect  among  the  Huguenots  altove  recited,  the  patronymic  of  his  baptismal 
name,  which  was  given  to  him  in  reference  to  the  ancestral  family  of 
Eezeau,  which  is  still  prominent  among  the  descendants,  in  that  consecrated 
island. 


OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED.  15 

It  is  true,  there  was  some  difficulty  in  ascertaining  the  religious 
opinions  of  the  immigrants.  It  was,  at  first,  not  considered  of 
great  importance  whether  this  was  attempted — when  the  work 
became  necessary — by  personal  examination,  by  individual  sub- 
scription, or  by  authentic  papers.  The  mode  of  scrutiny  proba- 
bly varied  some  time  to  suit  circumstances.  But  some  definite 
form  of  ascertainment  was  in  a  few  years  pronounced  indispen- 
sable— especially  as  it  had  become  clear,  that  some  emigrants 
from  the  North  of  Ireland,  seeking  admission  into  our  church, 
had  imported  with  them  theological  sentiments  manifestly  differing 
from  our  standards,  and  showing  the  necessity  of  an  efficient 
guard  against  insidious  error. 

Several  instances  of  written  declaration  or  actual  subscription 
to  formularies  of  doctrine  are  on  record,  which  shed  light  on  this 
subject.  The  Rev.  Wm.  Tennent,  who  had  been  Episcopally  in- 
ducted in  Ireland,  on  arriving  in  this  country  applied  for  admis- 
sion to  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia.*  That  body  requested  him  to 
give  a  written  statement  of  his  reasons  for  leaving  the  Episcopal 
Church.  The  most  prominent  reason  he  assigned  was,  that  the 
Church  of  Ireland  connived  at  Arminian  doctrines.  It  is  a  natu- 
ral inference  that  he  would  not  desire  admission  to  a  church  less 
sound  than  the  one  he  was  leaving.  In  1724,  William  McMillan. 
subscribed  this  brief  avowal ;  Archibald  Cook  and  Hugh  Steven- 
son in  1726:  "I  do  own  the  Westminster  Confession  of  Faith  as 
the  confession  of  my  faith."  John  Tennent,  September  18,  1729, 
subscribed  the  following  formulary:  "  I  do  own  the  Westminster 
Confession  of  Faith,  before  God  and  these  witnesses,  together 
with  \\\e  Larger  and  Shorter  Catechisms,  with  the  Directory  there- 
to annexed,  to  be  the  confession  of  my  faith  and  rule  of  faith  and 
manners,  according  to  the  word  of  God."  p.  103.  These  sub- 
subscriptions  took  place  in  the  Presbytery  of  Newcastle,  who 
were  among  the  first  to  ^disavow  confidence  in  written  testimoni- 
als, particularly  those  brought  froin  the  North  of  Ireland,  which 
furnished  a  large  proportion  of  the  applicants  for  admission  to 
their  body.  Hence,  they  were  among  the  first  to  change  the  form 
of  entrance  into  the  church,  and  to  demand  the  adoption  of  the 
Westminster  Confession  of  Faith.  For  this  timely  and  decided 
act,  the  lax  religionists  of  that  day,  and  the  more  decidedly  he- 
retical of  succeeding  days,  have  not  ceased  to  pursue  them  with 
"  railing  accusations,"  endeavoring  to  make  appear  as  their 
SHAME  what  is  really  their  glory.  That  act  of  the  Newcastle 
Presbytery  was  the  dawn  of  a  brighter  day;  unmixed  light  be- 
gan to  shine  with  more  splendour  from  other  quarters,  and  dark- 
ness and  doubt  to  flee  away.     The  fact  that  the  Newcastle  Presby- 

*  Dr.  Hodge,  vol.  I.,  p.  101. 


1-6  OLD    SCHOOL   VINDICATED. 

lery  and  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia,  about  this  time,  had  found  it  ne- 
cessary to  reject  several  applicants  for  admission  on  account  oi 
their  unsoundness  in  the  faith,  hastened  on  these  decisive  measures 
which  soon  followed  and  increased  their  strictness.  It  is  evident 
that  the  process  o{  forming  the  church  had  proceeded  so  far  as 
to  require  some  prominent  measure  to  test  and  confirm  all  addi- 
tions to  her  body;  to  certify  and  establish  ministerial  soundness 
and  communion  on  a  stable  and  satisfactory  foundation. 

The  Adopting  Act,  as  it  is  called,  arose  out  of  this  crisis  in  our 
ecclesiastical  affairs.  Dr.  Judd  represents  this  act  as  if  intended  to 
get  clear  of  th-e  difficulty  by  dispensing  with  a  strict  compliance 
with  the  Caivinistic  standards  o{  the  church,  which  he  denomi- 
nates "  arbitrary  principles,"  and  then  declares  the  object  of  the 
Act  to  have  been  "  to  re-affirm  some  liberal  principles;"  to  which 
he  refers  as  "establishing  a  modified  Presbyterianism  in  Amer- 
ica." Then  to  open  a  hidden  yet  capacious  channel  for  the  free 
admission  of  errors  and  errorists.  Dr.  Judd  seems  to  combine  his 
little  strength  with  that  of  Dr.  L.  Halsey,  of  Pittsburgh,  in  his 
letter,  published  in  the  Cincinnati  Journal,  1836,  representing  the 
Act  of  1729  as  an  indefinitely  lax  and  compromising  measure, 
"  requiring  in  the  visible  union  of  Christians  what  was  essential, 
and  treating  accordingly  what  was  not  essential  ;"  that  is,  afibrd- 
ing  to  men  of  unsound  and  discordant  opinions,  on  entering  the 
Presbyterian  Church,  most  complete  sh-elter  and  safety.  This  Dr. 
Judd  calls  union — beautiful  harmony! 

Now  the  truth  is,  that  construction  is  positively  and  directly 
opposed  to  the  avowed  design,  the  letter,  and  the  whole  spirit  of 
the  Act.  Its  sole  and  manifest  object  was  to  enforce  strict  union 
ill  the  truth,  as  exhibited  in  the  standards  the  Assembly  professed 
to  regard — not  to  make  the  church  Caivinistic,  as  a  new  thing,  but 
to  show  that  such  had  always  been  her  character,  and  to  exhibit 
lier  fixed  determination  so  to  continue ;  thus  to  elevate  and  refine 
public  sentiment,  and  to  exclude  all  spurious  forms  of  opinion  in 
religious  matters.  To  this  act  they  were  prompted  by  the  detec- 
tion of  dangerous  errors,  such  as  Arminianism,  Pelagianism,  Ari- 
anism,  and  others  among  the  emigrants,  who  had  thronged  and 
annoyed  them  considerably,  from  the  North  of  Ireland. 

The  preceding  pages  have  illustrated  the  theological  character 
of  the  infant  Presbyterian  Church,  from  the  beginning.  The 
Synodical  Acts  which  will  be  specially  presented,  will  afford  irre- 
sistible proof  that  their  authors  intended  rigorously  to  protect  the 
opinions  they  had  hitherto  maintained,  by  adopting  most  vigilant 
precautionary  rules  and  guards  to  exclude  forever  every  phase  of 
false  doctrine. 

The  memorial  presented  to  the  Synod,  praying  for  this  Act, 
and  headed  "An  overture,  (Dr.  Hodge,  102,)  humbly  offered  to 


OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED.  17 

the  consideration  of  the  Rev.  Synod,  wherein  is  proposed  an 
expedient  for  preventing  the  ingress  and  spreading  of  dangerous 
errors  among  either  ourselves  or  the  flocks  committed  to  our 
care,"  viz : 

•' Ahhough  the  Synod  do  not  claim  or  pretend  to  any  author- 
ity"* of  imposing  our  faith  upon  other  men's  consciences,  but  do 
profess  our  just  dissatisfaction  with,  and  abhorrence  of,  such  im- 
positions, and  do  utterly  disclaim  all  legislative  power  and  au- 
thority in  the  church,  being  willing  to  receive  one  another  as 
Christ  has  received  us,  to  the  Glory  of  God,  and  admit  to  fellow- 
ship in  sacred  ordinances  all  such  as  we  have  grounds  to  believe 
Christ  will  at  last  admit  to  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  yet  we  are 
cndoubtedly  obliged  to  take  care  that  the  faith  once  delivered  to 
the  saints  be  kepi  pure  and  uncorrupt  among  us  and  so  handed 
down  to  jiosterity ;  and  do  therefore  agree  that  all  the  ministers 
of  this  Synod,  or  that  shall  hereafter  be  admitted  into  this  Synod, 
shall  declare  their  agreement  in,  and  approbation  of,  the  Confes- 
sion of  Faith,  with  the  Larger  and  Shorter  Catechisms  of  the 
assembly  of  Divines  ai  Westminster,  as  being  in  all  respects  the 
fssential  and  necessary  articles,  good  forms  of  sound  words  and 
systems  of  Christian  doctrine;  and  do  also  adopt  the  said  Con- 
fession and  Catechism  as  the  confession  of  our  faiih.  And  we 
(io  also  agree,  that  all  the  Presbyteries  within  our  bounds  shall 
always  take  care  not  to  admit  any  candidate  of  the  ministry  into 
'he  exercise  of  tiie  sacred  function,  but  what  declares  his  agree- 
ment in  opinion  v.ith  all  the  essential  and  necessary  articles  of 
said  Confession,  either  by  subscribing  the  said  Confession  of  Faith 
Jind  Catechisms,  or  by  a  verbal  declaration  of  their  consent 
iliereto,  as  such  minister  or  candidate  shall  think  best.  And  in 
ease  any  minister  of  this  Synod,  or  any  candidate  for  the  minis- 
try, shall  have  scruple  with  regard  to  any  article  or  articles  of 
said  Confession  or  Catechisms,  he  shall,  at  the  time  of  makintr 
said' declaration,  declare  his  sentiments  to  the  Presbytery  or  Sy- 
nod, who  shall,  notwithstanding,  admit  him  to  the  exercise  of  the 
ministry  within  our  bounds,  and  to  ministerial  communion,  if  the 
Synod  or  Presbytery  shall  judge  his  scruple  or  mistake  to  be 
only  about  articles  rtot  essential  and  necessary  in  doctrine,  wor- 
ship or  government.  But  if  the  Synod  or  Presbytery  shall  judge 
such  ministers  or  candidates  erroneous  in  essential  and  necessar\- 
articles  of  faith,  the  Synod  or  Presbytery  shall  declare  them  in- 
capable of  communion  with  them." 

As  great  importance  has  been  attached  to  this  act  of  the  Sy- 
nod of  Philadelphia  of  1729,  and  some  doubts  were  expressed  at 
the  time  of  its  passage,  and  have  been  expressed  in  modern  times, 

*  The  very  essence  of  intolerance  is  distinctly  disavowed. 
E 


18  OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED. 

by  the  opposers  of  orthodox  opinions,  some  vindication,  as  well 
as  explanation  of  it,  may  be  permitted. 

1.  First,  we  think  any  sensible  and  liberal  man  will  infallibly 
perceive  that  its  professed  object  was  to  suppress  error  and  to 
maintain  sound  doctrines  in  the  church. 

The  preamble  to  an  act  often  declares  its   nature  and  charac- 
ter as  fully  as  its  bodily  substance.     The  introduction  to  this  me-' 
morial  declares  it  to  be  "an  expedient  for  preventing  the  ingress 
and  spreading  of  dangerous  errors  among  either  ourselves  or  the 
flocks  committed  to  our  care." 

2.  The  act  or  declaration  of  the  Synod  is  as  specifically  adap- 
ted to  the  object  contemplated  in  the  caption,  as  could  be  con- 
ceived or  expressed.  The  following  terms  of  the  memorial  will 
sufficiently  particularize  the  character  of  the  act.--  "  Now  the 
expedient  which  I  would  humbly  propose  you  may  take,  is  as  fol- 
lows: first,  that  our  Sjmod,  as  an  ecclesiastical  judicatory  of 
Christ,  clothed  with  ministerial  authority  to  act  in  concert  in  be- 
half of  truth,  and  in  opposition  to  error,  would  do  something  of 
this  kind  at  such  a  juncture,  when  error  seems  to  grow  so  fast 
that  unless  we  be  well  fortified  it  is  likely  to  swallow  us  vp.  Se-  • 
condly,  that  in  pursuance  hereof,  the  Synod  would,  by  an  act  of 
its  own,  publicly  and  authoritatively  adopt  the  Westminster  Con- 
fession of  Faith,  Catechisms,  &c.,  for  the  public  confession  of  our 
faith,  as  we  are  a  particular  organized  church."  In  continua- 
tion, the  whole  object  contemplated,  and  the  form  of  process  de- 
signated in  the  memorial,  and  the  character  of  the  measure  can- 
not be  doubted.  It  is  not  denied  that  there  \vas  some  opposition 
to  the  measure,  even  in  anticipation  of  it;  but  this  opposition  was 
founded  much  more  upon  the  predilection  of  Independents,  who 
had  been  trained  and  habituated  to  that  form  of  church  govern- 
ment, than  to  any  doctrines  or  opinions  embraced  in  the  Confes- 
sion of  Faith,  and  could  be  much  more  easily  removed.  On  ac- 
count of  this  obstacle  to  perfect  agreement,  and  an  indifi^erence. 
for  a  lime  prevalent  in  the  minds  of  sotne  principal  men  engaged 
in  this  important  matter,  some  objections  were  made,  even  in  the 
committee  to  whom  the  memorial  was  referred,  and  who  reported 
the  act  to  the  Synod.f 

On  examining  the  act  in  detail,  it  cannot  fail  to  be  perceived, 
that  in  every  lineament  it  corresponds  with  the  object  designated 

"^  These  are  the  words  of  Mr.  Thompson,  who  wrote  the  memorial.  Dr. 
Hodge,  p.  1C6,  Vol.  I. 

f  Among  these  was  to  be  found  even  President  Dickinson,  who  bein;^ 
opposed  to  all  creeds,  did  not  at  first  concur  in  the  measure  ;  but  all  these 
difficulties  with  him  and  others  were  speedily  overcome,  and  the  act  passed 
by  a  unanimous  vote. 


OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED,  19 

in  the  caption,  and  the  specifications  particularized  in  the  body  of 
the  memorial. 

A  few  passages  in  the  act  of  1729  will  give  a  perfectly  clear 
exposition  of  its  object  and  meaning.  The  first  clause  disavows 
that  the  Synod  had  any  thought  of  exercising  arbitrary  power  or 
hiiolerance  in  the  least  degree.  "  Although  the  Synod  do  not 
chiim  or  pretend  to  any  authority  of  imposing  our  faith  upon 
other  m'en's  consciences,  yet  are  we  undoubtedly  obliged  to  lake 
care  that  the  faith  once  delivered  to  the  saints  be  kept  pure  and 
uncorrupt  among  us."  It  was  certainly  right  and  necessary  that 
the  truth,  the  foundation  of  the  church,  should  be  well  ascertained 
and  secured.  Then  follows,  prospectively,  the  bearing  which 
iheir  action  should  have  upon  following  generations,  "  and  so 
handed  down  to  posterity ^  This  is  continuing  the  same  precau- 
tionary spirit  for  the  safety  of  following  ages,  for  us  and  ours  in  this 
(lay  of  REBUKE.  Then  succeeds,  in  most  explicit  terms,  the  man- 
ner of  accomplishing  these  great  ends.  "  We  do  therefore  agree 
that  all  the  ministers  of  this  Synod,  or  that  shall  hereafter  be  ad- 
mitted into  this  Synod,' shall  declare  their  agreement  in  and  ap- 
probation of  the  Confession  of  Faith,  with  the  Longer  and  Shorter 
Catechisms  of  the  assembly  of  Divines  at  Westminster,  as  being, 
in  all  the  essential  and  necessary  articles,  good  forms  of  sound 
words  and  systems  of  Christian  doctrine."  All  ministers,  for  the 
present  or  future,  are  first  to  declare  their  agreement  in  and  ap- 
probation of  the  Westminster  Confession  and  Catechisms;  but 
this  declaration  they  did  not  think  sacred  and  strong  enough  ;  they 
are  "  also  to  adopt  the  said  Confession  and  Catechisms  as  the 
confession  of  their  faith."  All  Presbyteries  are  required  to  ex- 
actlhe  same  declaration  of  agreement  and  approbation  from  all 
ministers  and  candidates  for  the  sacred  function,  "either  by  sub- 
scribing the  said  Confession  of  Faith  and  Catechisms,  or  by  a 
verbal  declaration  of  his  assent  thereto."  Can  any  thing  be  more 
clear  and  less  equivocaH  More  perfectly  intelligible  and  bind- 
ing?    And  yet  all  are  at  liberty  to  agree  or  decline. 

But  the  Synod  proceed  to  provide  for  every  conceivable  diffi- 
culty in  the  case.  "  In  case  anj'-  minister  of  this  Synod,  or  can- 
didate for  the  ministry, 'shall  have  any  scruple  with  respect  to  any 
article  or  articles  of  said  Confession  or  Catechisms,  he  shall,  at 
(he  time  of  his  making  the  said  declaration,  declare  his  sentiments 
to  the  Presbytery  or  Synod."  Take  notice !  These  cavils  are 
to  be  stated  openly  at  the  time  of  making  or  signing  the  declara- 
tion; not  uttered  and  proclaimed  afterwards  through  the  church; 
no  license  of  this  kind  is  allowed  forever  afterwards.  But  the 
scruple  beinnr  stated,  what  then  ?  "  The  Synod  or  Presbytery 
shall  admit  him  to  the  exercise  of  the  ministry  within  our  bounds, 
and  to  ministerial  communion."     Under  what  conditions  1     "  If 


20  OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED. 

the  Synod  or  Presbytery  shall  judge  his  scruple,  or  mistake,  to  be 
only  about  articles  not  essential  and  necessary  in  doctrine,  worship 
or  government."  After  the  scruple,  or  mistake,  has  been  stated,  the 
Synod  or  Presbytery  before  vviiich  it  occurs,  proceed  immedi- 
ately and  settle  the  question  of  admission  or  rejection.  "And  if 
the  Synod  or  Presbytery  shall  judge  such  minister  or  candidate 
erroneous  in  essential  or  necessary  articles  of  faith,  the  Synod  or 
Presbytery  shall  declare  them  incapable  of  communion  with 
them."  Here  the  process  rests;  it  is  conclusive;  the  import  of 
the  act  is  as  clear  as  light;  it  is  effectual  for  the  purpose ;  it  con- 
tains nothing  ai-bitrary  or  intoJei-ant ;  it  leaves  every  minister 
and  candidate  to.  his  own  sovereign  discretion  to  comply  with  the 
rule  and  enter  the  church,  under  the  favorable  decision  of  the 
judicatory,  or  cherish  his  mistakes  and  withdraw. 

The  Adopting  Act  having  reference  only  to  the  Confession  of 
Faith  and  Catechisms,  the  same  year  "  the  Synod,  on  motion, 
gave  their  judgment  that  the  Directory  for  worship,  discipline  and 
government,  commonly  annexed  to  tlie  Westminster  Confession, 
is  agreeable  to  the  word  of  God  and  founded  thereupon,  and 
therefore  unanimously  recommend  the  same  to  all  their  members, 
to  be  by  them  observed,  as  near  as  circumstances  will  allow  and 
Christian  prudence  direct." 

Although  this  act  is  as  perfectly  clear  and  specific  as  any  hu- 
man composition  can  be  made,  yet  there  were  a  few  individuals 
who  disapproved  of  it,  on  the  ground  of  alleged  obscurity,  prin- 
cipally in  regard  to  the  import  of  the  terms,  "  essential  and  ne- 
cessary articles;  good  forms  of  sound  words  and  systems  of 
Christian  doctrine."  But  from  a  candid  and  just  inspection  of 
these  words,  we  do  not  see  how  it  can  be  rationally  doubted  that 
they  refer  to  the  matter  and  substance  contained  in  the  preceding 
terms,  '•  the  Confession  of  Faith,  with  the  Longer  and  Shorter 
Catechisms  of  the  assembly  of  Divines  at  Westminster."  To  re- 
move all  ambiguity  and  doubt,  the  Synod  of  1730,  the  year  fol- 
lowing the  act,  make  the  following  record,  viz :  "  Whereas  some 
I>ersons  have  been  dissatisfied  with  the  manner  of  wording  our 
last  year's  agreement  about  the  Confession,  &c.,  supposing  some 
expressions  not  sufficiently  obligatory  upon  intrants;  overtured 
that  the  Synod  do  now  declare  that  they  understand  those  clauses 
that  respect  the  admission  of  intrants  in  such  a  sense  as  to  oblige 
them  to  receive  and  adopt  the  Confession  and  Catechisms,  at 
their  admission,  in  the  same  manner  and  as  fully  as  the  members 
of  the  Synod  that  were  then  present.  Which  overture  was 
unanimously  agreed  to  by  the  Synod."  Their  meaning  is,  that 
they  allow  objections  to  be  made  only  to  parts  of  the  twentieth 
and  twenty-third  chapters,  giving  privilege  and  power  to  civil 
magistrates  to  interfere  with  religious  matters.     The  Synod  cer- 


OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED.  gl 

tainly  had  power,  and  none  can  question  their  right,  to  explain 
and  confirm  their  own  transactions.  It  was  substantially  the  same 
body  or  company  of  individuals,  and  they  declare  what  their 
mind  was,  and  that  it  remains  unchanged. 

Some  discontent  still  remaining,  from  want  of  full  and  prompt 
explanations  accompanying  the  act,  a  fresh  avowal  of  its  mean- 
ing was  made  by  the  Synod  in  the  year  1736.  The  records  for 
that  year  show,  that  "  an  overture  of  the  committee,  upon  the 
supplication  of  the  people  of  Paxton  and  Derry,  was  brought  in, 
and  is  as  follows:  That  the  Synod  do  declare,  that  inasmuch  as 
we  understand  that  many  persons  of  our  persuasion,  both  more 
lately  and  formerly,  have  been  offended  with  some  expressions,  or 
distinctions,  in  the  first  or  preliminary  act  of  our  Synod  for  adopt- 
ing the  Westminster  Confession  and  Catechisms,  &.c. ;  that  in 
order  to  remove  said  offence,  and  all  jealousies  that  have  arisen, 
or  may  arise,  in  any  of  our  people's  minds,  on  occasion  of  said 
distinctions  and  expressions,  the  Synod  doth  declare,  that  the  Synod 
have  adopted  and  still  do  adhere  to  the  Westminster  Confession, 
Catechisms  and  Directory,  without  the  least  variation  or  altera- 
tion, and  without  any  regard  to  said  distinctions.  And  we  do  fur- 
ther declare  this  was  our  meaning  and  true  intent  in  our  first  adopt- 
ing the  said  cont'ession,  as  may  particularly  appear  by  our  Adopt- 
ing Act,  which  is  as  followelh  :  '  All  the  ministers  of  Synod  which 
are  now  present,  (eighteen  in  number.)  except  one  who  declared 
himself  not  prepared,  after  proposing  all  the  scruples  that  any  of 
them  had  to  make  against  any  articles  and  expressions  in  the  Con- 
fession of  Faith  and  Larger  and  Shorter  Catechisms  of  the  as- 
sembly of  Divines  at  Westminster,  have  unanimously  agreed  in 
the  solution  of  those  scruples,  and  in  declaring  the  said  Confes- 
sion and  Catechisms  to  be  the  confession  of  their  faith,  except 
only  some  clauses  in  the  twentieth  and  twenty-third  chapters, 
concerning  which  clauses  the  Synod  do  unanimously  declare,  that 
they  do  not  receive  those  articles  in  any  such  sense  as  to  suppose 
the  civil  magistrate  has  a  controlling  power  over  Synod,  with  re- 
spect to  the  exercise  of  their  ministerial  authority,  or  power  to 
persecute  any  for  their  religion,  or  in  any  sense  contrary  to  the 
protestant  succession  to  the  throne  of  Great  Britain.  And  we  do 
hope  and  desire,  that  this  our  Synodical  declaration  and  explana- 
tion, may  satisfy  all  our  people  as  to  our  firm  attachment  to  our 
'good  old  received  doctrines' contained  in  the  said  Confession, 
without  the  least  variation  or  alteration,  and  that  they  will  lay 
aside  their  jealousies  that  have  been  entertained  through  occasion 
of  the  above  hinted  expressions  and  declarations,  as  groundless.'  " 
This  overture  was  approved  without  dissent.  This  great  and 
important  public  measure,  so  solemnly  introduced  in  the  caption 
and  memorial ;  so  deliberately  scanned  and  adopted  by  the  Sy- 


22  OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED. 

nod  in  1729;  so  anxiously  and  honestly  reviewed  and  re-affirmed 
with  amplifications  in  1730 ;  so  solemnly  re-examined  and  still 
farther  elucidated  and  absolutely  confirmed  in  173G,  stands  as  a 
monument  of  the  original  faith  and  purity  and  fidelity  of  our 
early  predecessors  in  the  Presbyterian  Church.  Here,  in  the 
Adopting  Act,  is  a  splendid  light-house,  or  luminary,  seen  from 
afar;  it  beams  upon  Presbyterians  from  another  world,  and  irra- 
diates their  foot-way  every  step  they  take  in  the  path  of  true  and 
sound  orthodox  Christianity. 

The  orthodox  and  fair  men  of  that  day,  and  of  this  day,  so 
understand  the  document  of  1729.  We  are  the  followers  of  the 
adopters  of  that  act — we  honor  their  names  and  their  deeds  here 
recorded — we  construed,  apply,  and  commend  their  act,  just  as 
they  did.  But  this  feeling  in  the  orthodox  body,  of  favor  towards 
"  a  rigid  adherence  to  the  Confession  of  Faith,  Catechisms,  and 
Directory,"  strikes  the  New  School  brethren  with  horror.  They 
pronounce  it,*  '*  a  rash  departure  from  the  tolerant  and  fraternal 
principles  of  1691  in  England,  and  1729  in  America."  This  act 
of  1729,  they  pronounce,  "  a  return  to,  or  re-affirmalion  of,  the 
liberal  principles  of  1691,  upon  which  the  Presbyterian  Church  in 
America  was  based,"  and  construing  it  thus,  they  claim  it  as  the 
model  and  the  screen  for  all  their  false  iheology,  w^hicli  will  be 
exhibited  in  the  sequel  of  this  work.  On  the  contrary,  the  Pres- 
byterian Church  required  this  orthodox  protection  and  security 
against  error,  in  her  infant  and  exposed  state,  and  the  surround- 
ing church  and  country  strongly  sympathized  with  this  act,  tally- 
ing, as  it  does,  so  strikingly  with  our  Confession  of  Faith  and 
Catechisms.  Even  the  Puritans,  and  Independents  or  Congrega- 
tionalists  of  New  England,  notwithstanding  their  peculiar  forms 
of  church  government,  were,  by  far  the  greater  part,  devoted  to 
orthodox  evangelic  religion,  and  the  act  of  1729  gave  them  no 
uneasiness  or  ofience.  The  Westminster  Confession  had  been 
adopted  in  New  England  long  before,  and  the  Westminster  Cate- 
chisms were  taught  there,  as  carefully  as  in  Scotland.  So  that 
New  School  men  would  gain  very  little,  if  they  could  establish 
the  untenable  assumption  that  the  Presbyterian  system  is  based 
upon  Congregationalism.  The  truth  is,  the  New  Englandism  of 
that  day  differed  toto  celo  from  its  present  phases,  and  the  error- 
ists  who  now  attempt  to  shelter  themselves,  and  lower  the  char- 
acter of  the  Presbyterian  Church  by  casting  this  unjust  imputa- 
tion upon  the  Puritan  and  Pilgrim  fathers,  would  have  fared  little 
better  there  in  that  day,  than  they  do  here  at  present.  The  dete- 
riorating and  deceptive  terms,  "  heads  of  agreement,"  "  for  sub- 

*  Division,  p.  88. 


OLD   SCHOOL   VIPTDICATED.  23 

stance  of  doctrine,"  "  essentials  and  non-essentials,"  &c.,  were 
not  in  use,  because  uncalled  for  at  that  time.* 

The  reader  can  now  judge  how  far  the  system  adopted  in 
1729,  ratified  and  confirmed  in  1730  and  173G,  to  purify  and 
guard  the  church,  then  and  ever  afterwards,  furnishes  a  grant  or 
concession  to  New  School  speculators,  to  violate  their  vows,  to 
maintain  the  Confession  of  our  Church,  and  maintain  its  purity 
and  peace,  by  introducing  and  circulating  at  pleasure,  their  novel, 
ever-varying,  conflicting,  and  injurious  errors,  upon  every  cardi- 
nal doctrine  of  our  sacred  standards.  This  is  what  the  New 
School  claim  as  their  right  and  their  privilege;  and  the  orthodox 
body  are  denounced  as  intolerant  because  they  adhere  to  their 
standards  and  vows. 

It  is  reasonable  to  suppose  that  the  first  settlers  in  New  Eng- 
land, from  their  proximity  to  the  Presbyterian  districts  and  con- 
stant intercourse  with  them,  should  exert  considerable  influence 
upon  the  Presbyterian  population,  and  their  religious  character, 
in  its  early  days.  This  admitted.  New  School  men,  in  endeavour- 
ing to  give  the  early  Presbyterians  an  unsound  character — to 
awaken  jealousies  and  suspicions  against  them- — do  great  injustice, 
in  some  instances,  to  the  early  character  of  New  England  herself. 
From  her  mixed  population,  they  infer  the  impurity  of  the  Pres- 
byterian people,  wiih  whom  they  associated  so  freely.  Because 
some  of  this  multitude  were  Puritans,  some  Quakers,  some  Con- 
gregationalists,  some  Independents,  they  would  infer  that  all  were 
unsound,  or  at  best,  lax  in  principle — indefinite,  fluctuating,  and 
unreliable — and  of  course,  (this  is  their  argument,)  so  were  the 
so-called  Presbyterian  mass.     This  is  doing  great  injustice  to 

^■'  (Saml.  Blair.)  "There  never  was  any  scruple,  that;  I  heard  of,  made 
by  any  member  of  the  Synod,  about  any  part  of  the  Concession  of  Faith, 
but  only  about  some  particular  clauses  in  the  twentieth  and  twenty-third 
chapters,  (about  the  civil  magistrate)  and  those  clauses  were  excepted 
against  in  the  Synod's  act  receiving  the  Confession  of  Faith,  only  in  sicch 
sense,  which,  for  my  part.  I  believe  the  reverend  composers  never  intended 
in  them,  but  which  might  notwithstanding  be  readily  impressed  upon 
them."  The  cordial  approbation  of  that  act,  and  the  method  of  subscrip- 
tion to  it  which  it  proposes,  as  generally  prevalent,  is  here  placed  beyond 
controversy.  Any  person  desiring  still  further  evidence  of  the  universal 
popularity  and  acceptance  of  the  synodical  acts  and  ratifications,  are  re- 
ferred to  the  Presbyterian  Magazine,  Vol.  III.,  No.  3,  p.  141.  They  will 
find  there,  that  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia,  the  Presbytery  of  New  Bruns- 
wick, the  Synod  of  New  York,  and  the  two  Synods  united,  in  1758,  all 
agree  with  the  act,  to  profess  the  same  principles  of  faith,  the  same  form 
of  worship,  government,  and  discipline.  At  the  time  of  organizing  the 
General  Assembly  in  1789,  the  same  sentiments,  the  same  confidence  and 
harmony,  pervaded  the  whole  Presbyterian  mass.  No  schism  or  disagree- 
ment that  ever  occurred  in  the  church,  impaired  materially  this  unanimity 
in  the  church,  in  regard  to  Catechisms,  forms  of  devotion,  government  and 
discipline,  till  New  Schoolism,  like  Pandora's  box,  made  its  appearance. 


24  OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED. 

New  England,  as  well  as  to  our  own  church.  Without  being 
partial  to  her,  we  must  be  just  to  all.  Now  the  truth  is,  there  is 
no  lack  of  evidence  to  vindicate  the  first  adventurers  from  the 
Plymouth  rock  into  the  rude  and  uncultivated  hills  of  Massachu- 
setts and  Connecticut,  from  this  implied  aspersion.  The  early 
Presbyterians  derived  no  contamination  from  their  intermixture 
with  such  a  noble  company,  or  partial  extraction  from  such  a 
source.  Most  of  her  learned  and  excellent  men  were  strenuous 
defenders  of  those  very  articles  of  scriptural  faith,  for  which  we 
ourselves  earnestly  contend.  "Cotton  Mather,"  in  his  Magnalla,. 
Vol.  I.,  p.  2GG,  informs  us  that  a  gentleman  of  New  England  hav- 
ing published  a  book,  in  which  he  attempted  to  prove  "  that  Christ 
bore  not  our  sins,  by  God's  imputation,  and  therefore  did  not  bear 
the  curse  of  the  law  for  them,  the  General  Court  of  Massachu- 
setts," (the  highest  authority  in  the  state,)  concerned  that  the 
glorious  truths  of  the  gospel  might  be  rescued  from  the  confusion 
whereinto  the  essay  of  this  gentleman  had  thrown  them,  and 
afraid  lest  the  Church  of  God  abroad  should  suspect  that  New 
England  allowed  such  exorbitant  aberrations,  appointed  Mr. 
Norton  to  draw  up  an  answer  to  that  erroneous  treatise.  This 
Avork  he  performed  with  a  most  elaborate  and  judicious  pen,  in  a 
book  afterwards  published  under  the  title:  "A  discussion  of  that 
great  point  in  divinity,  the  sufferings  of  Christ,  and  the  question 
about  his  active  and  passive  obedience,  and  the  imputation 
thereof."  The  great  assertion  explained  and  maintained,  is,  ac- 
cording to  the  words  of  the  reverend  author,  "  that  the  liOrd  Jesus 
Christ,  as  God-man  and  mediator  according  to  the  will  of  the 
Father,  and  his  own  voluntary  consent,  fully  obeyed  the  law, 
doing  the  command  in  the  way  of  works,  and  suffering  the  es- 
sential punishment  of  the  curse,  in  the  way  of  satisfaction  unto 
divine  justice,  thereby  exactly  fulfilling  the  first  covenant ;  which 
active  and  passive  obedience  of  his,  together  with  his  original 
righteousness  as  a  surety,  God,  of  his  rich  grace,  actually  im- 
puteth  unto  believers;  whom,  by  the  receipt  thereof,  by  the  graco 
of  faith,  he  declareth  and  accepteth  as  perfectly  righteous,  and 
acknowledgeth  them  to  have  a  right  unto  eternal  life."  At  the 
close  of  this  volume,  to  prove  that  it  spoke  the  sense  and  meaning 
of  the  churches  generally  through  the  country,  there  is  an  attesta- 
tion signed  by  five  distinguished  names.  Cotton,  Wilson,  Mather, 
vSymmes,  and  Thompson,  who  declare,  "  as  they  believe,  they 
also  profess,  that  the  obedience  of  Christ  to  the  whole  law,  which 
is  the  law  of  righteousness,  is  the  matter  of  our  justification;  and 
the  imputation  of  our  sins  to  Christ,  and  thereupon  his  suffering 
the  sense  of  the  wrath  of  God  upon  him  for  our  sins,  and  the  im- 
putation of  his  obedience  to  us,  are  the  formal  cause  of  our  justi- 


OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED.  25 

fication,  which  is  the  life  of  our  souls,  and  of  our  religion,  and 
therefore  called  ihe  justification  unto  life." 

Even  Dr.  Beecher  follows  up  this  eulogy,  juslly  deserved,  by 
an  important  attestation,  in  regard  to  a  kindred  doctrine.  "  Our 
Puritan  fathers,"  says  he,  *'  adhered  to  the  doctrine  of  originai 
sin,  as  consisting  in  the  imputation  of  Adam's  sin,  and  in  a  heredi- 
tary depravity;  and  this  continued  to  be  the  received  doctrine  ot 
the  churches  of  New  England,  until  after  the  time  of  Edwards. 
He  adopted  the  views  of  the  Reformers  on  the  subject  of  original 
sin,  as  consisting  in  the  imputation  of  Adam's  sin,  and  depraved 
nature,  transmitted  by  descent.*  'Tis  not  to  New  England,  ia 
her  pristine  days,  that  we  are  authorized  to  look  for  theological 
discrepancies,  but  to  her  more  modern  period  of  novelties  ami 
changes.  She  has  been  becoming,  for  many  years  past,  in 
morals,  in  politics,  in  divinity,  biblical  criticism,  in  almost  every 
feature,  progressively  degenerate.  This  we  record,  with  pain 
and  without  prejudice,  fi'om  a  close  and  constant  observation  oi 
facts  and  tendencies,  during  the  last  forty  years.  The  attempt, 
therefore,  of  Dr.  Judd,  or  any  other  writer,  inferentially  to  prove 
the  laxness,  the  compromising  and  vascillating  spirit  and  character 
of  early  Presbyterianism,  from  its  supposed  sympathy  for,  and 
association  with  the  earl}'  settlers  of  New  England,  and  thus  indi- 
rectly to  establish  the  charge  of  sternness  and  despotism,  or  in- 
tolerance against  the  Presbyterian  Church  of  the  present  day,  on 
account  of  her  energetic  and  decisive  efforts  to  purify  herseh 
from  a  mass  of  corruption  and  contagion,  is  unsupported  by  fact, 
is  opposed  by  authentic  and  incontestible  history. 

Previous  to  the  Adopting  Act  of  1729,  and  for  many  years 
after  it,  the  attention  of  the  church,  of  her  judicatories,  her  minis- 
ters and  her  people,  was  engrossed  chiefly  with  the  question  of 
orthodoxy  and  order  in  the  church,  the  influx  of  religionists  of 
various  grades  from  abroad  being  so  great,  and  of  such  mixed 
character,  as  to  awaken  their  fears  and  inspire  their  constant 
\'igilance  and  zeal.  That  portion  of  the  excellent  and  venerable 
ministers  and  elders,  who  had  manifested  pre-eminent  devotion 
and  firmness,  in  raising  and  sustaining  to  the  utmost  an  effectual 
standard  against  unsound  and  disorderly  principles  and  forms, 
brought  upon  themselves,  from  brethren  in  the  same  church,  not 
so  tenacious  on  these  points  as  they  were,  the  charge  of  compari- 
tive  indifference  and  even  laxness,  in  regard  to  the  religious 
knowledge,  experience,  and  piety  of  professing  members — candi- 
dates for  the  ministry — and  preachers  from  abroad  applying  for 
admission  to  the  church.f     This  want  of  confidence,  at  first  feebly 

*  Spirit  of  the  Pilgrims,  Vol.  I.,  p.  158. 

f  They  were  charged  with  exhibiting  more  rigor  and  zeal  for  maintaining 
inviolate  their  Creeds  and  Confessions,  than  for  preserving  a  rigid  tone  and 


26  OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED. 

whi?])cred,  waxed  stronger  and  stronger,  till  it  broke  out  in  a 
positive  and  violent  charge,  so  exciting  and  inflammatory,  as  to 
become  mainly  instrumental  in  producing  the  great  ecclesiastical 
schism  of  1741.* 

As  our  object,  in  this  introductory  chapter,  is  merely  to  refute 
the  groundless  charges  of  the  New  School  against  the  purity  of 
our  early  church,  and  true  import  of  her  acts,  and  various  de- 
velopments of  theological  opinion ;  believing  that  this  object  is 
sufficiently  established,  we  shall  here  suspend  the  historic  detail, 
with  a  few  additional  statements  connected  with  the  subject  in 
prospect. 

The  Synods  of  New  York  and  Philadelphia,  which  had  been 
some  time  divided,  were  re-united  in  1758,  and  immediately  re- 
cognized, their  obligations  to  perform  missionary  service,  and 
commenced  the  work  by  sending  laborers  to  the  South.  In  176G, 
they  began  to  create  a  missionary  fund,  by  asking  contributions 
iVom  the  Presbyteries.  In  1770,  they  took  measures  to  send  the 
gospel  to  Georgia,  to  the  Alleghanies;  and  to  the  Northern  fron- 
tiers in  New  York,  to  the  west  of  Albany,  about  1776. 

The  General  Assembly  was  organized  in  178ff,  and  entered  at 
nnce  upon  the  missionary  work,  as  far  as  circumstances  would 
admit.  Their  first  missionaries  to  northern  Pennsylvania  and 
western  New  York,  were  commissioned  in  the  years  1791-92. 
In  1800,  .the  Rev.  Jedediah  Chapman  was  appointed  "a  stated 
missionary  on  the  frontiers,"  The  Connecticut  Missionary  So- 
ciety was  organized  a  little  earlier,  and  commenced  its  work 
about  1798.  In  1803,  Rev.  Gideon  Blackbourne  was  appointed 
a  missionary  to  the  Cherokee  Indians,  living  in  the  southern  part 
of  Tennessee,  and  northern  part  of  i\Iississippi. 

strictform  of  practical  piety  through  the  charch  generallj',  and  more  par- 
ticularly among  those  appointed  as  leaders,  or  selected  as  candidates. 

'■''  For  numerous  interesting  details  connected  ulth  our  church  at  this  im- 
portant period,  from  1741  to  1780,  her  feuds,  her  revivals,  her  re-uniou  of 
discordant  branches,  the  erection  of  the  Synod  of  New  York,  and  the  Gene- 
ral Assembly  of  the  Prpsbyterian  Church,  see  Presbyterian,  Vol.  III.,  No. 
4.     Also,  Dr.  Hodge's  History,  Vol.  I.,  in  extenso. 


OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED. 


CHAPTER    II 


The  state  of  the  Church  and  country  at  1800 — Effects  of  the  Rovolntionar_y 
"War — Indifference  of  the  people  to  religious  enterprise — Efforts  to  im- 
prove— To  promote  missions  in  New  Jersey,  and  elsewhere. 

The  nineteenth  century  found  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  a 
condition  of  at  least  lamentable  repose.  To  this  many  influences 
unliappily  conduced.  Even  the  powerful  revivals  experienced, 
many  years  preceding,  in  New  England,  in  the  central  and  more 
Southern  colonies,  lent  efficient  aid  in  producing  a  strong  and  de- 
plorable reaction  in  the  churches  generally.  The  preaching  of 
Edwards,  at  Northampton  and  in  the  surrounding  country;  and 
of  Whitfield  and  Tennent  every  where,  especially  in  the  North- 
ern and  Eastern  States,  though  astonishingly  impressive  and 
awakening  in  multitudes  of  instances,  seemed,  in  the  midst  of 
their  signally  gracious  triumphs,  and  immediately  thereafter,  to 
open  a  way  and  give  an  impulse  favorable  to  Arminian  errors, 
and  kindred  heresies  of  a  grosser  kind.  The  extravagant  ex- 
citements and  fanatical  zeal  and  action  attending  these  revivals 
speedily  exhausted  themselves,  and  were  succeeded  by  a  spirit  of 
slumber,  in  the  American  churches,  which  lasted  for  a  long  pe- 
riod. Other  causes  aggravated  these  results,  and  raised  up  for- 
midable obstacles  in  the  way  of  reform  or  of  progress. 

The  freedom  of  the  people,  and  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States,  had  been  recently  established,  by  a  protracted  and  ex- 
hausting war.  The  lively  sympathies  of  the  people  had  been 
turned  off  from  their  altars  of  devotion  to  the  standard  of  liberty 
and  the  firesides  of  home.  The  country,  disorganized  and 
confused  by  the  tumult  of  war  and  the  disaster  of  battles,  re- 
(|uired  all  the  wisdom  of  its  councils  to  restore  order;  and  being 
not  less  dilapidated  and  impoverished  by  the  galling  burdens  they 
hjid  sustained,  as  the  price  of  their  liberty,  all  their  remaining 
energies  and  resources  were  taxed  to  the  utmost  to  repair  the 
wasted  strength  and  productiveness  of  their  farms,  their  count- 
ing-houses, and  their  workshops. 

Most  of  the  country,  west  of  Pittsburgh,  was  the  red  man's 
home  and  hunting  ground  ;  a  vast  wilderness.  The  territory  of 
New  York,  west  and  north  of  Albany,  was  but  little  removed 
from  a  state  of  nature,  excepting  a  few  favoured  spots  on  the 
banks  and  the  flats  which  skirted  the  Mohawk  river,  where  towns 
and  churches  began  early  to  rise  in  quick  succession.  The  thir- 
teen states,  the  most  cultivated  and  improved  portion  of  the 
country,  after  enduring  the  heat  and  burden  of  the  Revolutionary 
conflict,  were  poor  and  powerless.     The  most  populous  states 


28  OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED. 

themselves  were  very  imperfectly  supplied  with  institutions  of 
learning,  and  still  more  destitute  of  the  means  of  grace.  Around 
and  before  them  lay  a  wild  and  vast  desolation,  which  presented 
itself  to  them  as  an  almost  boundless  missionary  field,  little,  if  at 
all  explored.  A  comparatively  small  number  of  gospel  ministers, 
eminent  for  talents  and  venerable  for  piety  and  services,  were 
scattered  through  the  land,  occupying  the  more  conspicuous  and 
responsible  posts  in  the  large  cities  and  growing  villages  of  the 
country.  The  noble  and  animating  Christian  zeal  with  which 
many  of  the  churches  in  the  Souihern,  Central  and  Northeastern 
districts  of  the  land  had  been  inspired  some  years  before  by  the 
preaching  of  Whitfield,  the  Tennents,  the  Blairs,  the  Brainards, 
the  Rogerses,  the  Finleys,  the  Davises,  the  VVitherspoons,  the 
Masons,  McKnights,  Nesbits,  Sproats,  Dickinsons,  Smiths,  Burrs, 
Edwards,  the  VVoodhulls,  and  other  apostolic  men,  in  connexion 
with  the  influence  of  the  extensive  I'evivals  of  1741,  had  not  only 
in  great  treasure  lost  their  power  and  effect,  but  were  succeeded 
by  a  spirit  of  indifference  to  all  religion,  tinctured  with  a  prone- 
ness,  imported  from  the  mother  country,  in  very  many  instances, 
to  skepticism  and  downright  hostility  to  revealed  truth. 

Several  formidable  obstacles  combined  their  influence  to  ob- 
struct the  plans  formed,  by  the  wise  and  excellent  men  of  that 
day,  to  restore  the  impaired  energies  of  the  people;  to  direct  and 
concentrate  their  efforts  in  striving  to  increase  the  number  of 
evangelical  ministers;  to  build  up  literary  institutions ;  to  erect 
churches  in  destitute  places,  and  to  inspire  the  congregations  with 
just  views  ajid  corresponding  zeal  in  the  cause  of  missions.  With 
great  numbers,  not  only  their  poverty  disabled  and  discouraged 
them  from  participating  in  any  movement  of  this  kind,  but  an 
anti-evangelic  impression  prevailed  extensively,  that  the  whole 
heathen  world  were  situated  beyond  the  reach  of  divine  mercy, 
and  that  the  Indian  tribes  were  so  deeply  sunk  in  ignorance  and 
hardened  in  barbarity  and  vice,  as  to  be  utterly  incorrigible  in  their 
habits,  and  irredeemable  even  by  gospel  grace. 

At  this  incipient  stage  of  gospel  enterprise,  the  Church  of  Scot- 
land, the  alma  mater,  as  well  as  origin  of  American  Presbyteri- 
anism,  and  the  great  pioneer  in  diffusing  knowledge  and  spread- 
ing the  gospeU'ar  and  wide,  had  lifted  her  standard  and  uttered 
he"r  watchword.  The  rays  of  light,  from  the  society  in  Scotland 
for  propagating  religious  knowledge,  had  already  reached  these 
recently  emancipated  States  with  their  cheering  radiance.  Sim- 
ultaneously, however,  an  eloquent  and  popular  sermon,  preached 
by  Doctor  Hardy,  of  Edinburgh,  before  that  society  in  Scotland, 
presented  the  objection,  above  stated,  to  missions  among  the  In- 
dians and  other  savage  tribes,  in  a  manner  so  plausible  and  so 
forcible,  especially  so  well  adapted  to  their  parsimony,  their  igno- 


OLD    SCHOOL   VISTDICATED.  29 

ranee  and  unbelief,  and  to  their  coM  indifference  or  fixed  opposi- 
tion to  every  work  of  benevolence,  that  yielding  to  its  specious 
pretext,  "  that  civilization  must  precede  the  gospel  and  prepare 
men  for  the  reception  of  Christianity,"  no  small  portion  of  the 
people,  wherever  it  circulated,  beguiled  by  its  sophistry,  were 
paralyzed  by  its  power  and  plunged  into  an  unfortunate  and  crim- 
inal slumber,  from  which  it  was  found  no  easy  matter  to  rouse 
them.*  Reason  and  scripture  and  fact,  with  rational  men,  might 
correct  the  grand  mistake,  "that  you  must  make  Indians  and 
savages  civilized  and  cultivated  men  before  you  can  make  theni 
Christians,"  but  reason  and  scripture,  and  even  fact,  proved  too 
feeble  to  awaken  multitudes  out  of  a  profound  delusion  which 
they  seemed  to  court  and  cherish. 

Notwithstanding  the  apathy  which  depressed  the  public  mind 
in  general,  and  paralyzed  all  action  in  connexion  with  ecclesiasti- 
cal enterprise,  the  excellent  men  who  then  controlled  the  interests 
of  the  church,  impelled  by  a  determined  zeal  for  her  enlargement 
and  prosperity,  and  to  extend  relief  to  the  destitute  and  suffering 
ai'ound  on  every  side,  united  their  counsels,  their  prayers,  and 
importunate  appeals,  to  the  slumbering  pastors  and  people,  to  in- 
spire them  with  an  enlightened  and  liberal  energy  in  this  great 
work.  This  was  especially  true  as  appHed  to  the  Presbytery  of 
New  Brunswick,  which  embraced  witliin  its  limits  nearly  the 
whole  state  of  New  Jersey.  The  opposition  to  collections  and 
taxations,  for  religious  use,  and  especially  for  missionary  pur- 
j)oses,  was  so  decisive  in  the  congregations  generally,  thai;  to 
procure  the  assent  of  the  people  to  a  very  moderate  and  equitable 
assessment  for  the  missionary  cause,  the  Presbyier<P  appointed 
onef  of  their  most  aged,  venerable,  and  influential  members,  to 
visit  the  churches,  to  enlighten  them  on  the  subject  of  missions,  to 
explain  their  duty,  and  by  direct  and  impressive  appeals,  to  induce 
them  to  admit  the  principle  of  taxation,  and  to  observe  the  assess- 

*  It  may  be  a  fact  of  some  Interest  with  the  reader  to  know,  that  the  sub- 
ject of  these  cavils  against  missionary  hxbor,  was  gravely  recited  and  dis- 
cussed by  the  illustrious  Ur.  John  M.  Mason,  pastor  of  the  Scots  Presby- 
terian Church  in  the  city  of  New  York,  in  a  sermon  preached  before  the 
New  York  Missionary  Society,  Nov.  7,  1797,  published  the  same  year  by 
T.  &  J.  Swords,  of  that  city.  Could  those  cold,  callous  objectors  now  re- 
turn to  earth  and  cast  their  eyes  over  the  missionary  field,  survey  the  moun- 
tains of  India,  the  islands  of  the  Southern  Sea,  and  the  vast  Christianized 
regions  of  the  North  and  West,  with  what  indescribable  emotions  of  as- 
tonishment and  remorse  would  their  bosoms  heave  ! 

t  That  member  wa^  the  Rev.  Joseph  Chirk,  pastor  of  the  Church  in  N'ew 
Brunswick,  a  man  and  a  minister  of  decided  talents,  pifty,  and  Christian 
zeal,  known  and  beloved  in  all  the  churches.  For  an  extended  sketch,  see 
Appendix  of  the  Memoir  of  Rev.  Robert  Finley,  published  by  Terhune  & 
Letson,  New  Brunswick,  1819,  by  I.  V.  Brown. 


30  OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED. 

tnent  of  the  Presbytery.  This  agency  was  promptly  performed 
with  great  fidelity  and  success.  The  amount  realized  annually 
from  that  measure  was  small  indeed,  but  sufficient  to  meet  their 
limited  plans  and  outlays.  Its  most  important  benefit  lay  in  the 
eftect  it  produced  upon  the  minds  and  habits  of  the  people.  The 
salutary  influence  of  this  apportionment  was  distinctly  visible 
in  the  congregations  for  many  years.  The  principle  was  clearly 
stated  and  powerfully  commended,  that  providing  for  the  support 
of  the  gospel  at  home,  and  not  less  for  the  sending  of  it  to  the  desii- 
lute  abroad,  involves  the  highest  and  most  sacred  responsibility  ol 
the  Christian  name,  or  in  other  words  that  the  church  of  Christ  is 
a  missionary  society.  This  being  once  settled,  the  way  is  open 
immediately  for  the  introduction  of  that  large  and  liberal  policy 
in  sustaining  and  enlarging  the  interests  of  Zion,  which  charac- 
terizes the  Presbyterian  Church  in  these  United  States,  and  in  ex- 
emplifying which  the  congregations  in  New  Jersey  have  main- 
tained an  honorable  ^''^de. 


CHAPTER    III. 

Plan  of  Union  founded  in  the  uncongeniaTity  of  Presbytevianism  and  Con- 
gregationalism on  the  Mohawk  and  vicinity — Westward — The  Plan  of 
Union  was  proposed  first  by  the  General  Association  of  Connecticut — 
Particulars  stated — Plan  of  Union  introduced. 

The  beautiful  and  fertile  regions  on  both  sides  of  the  Mohawk 
and  extending  far  westward,  began  early  to  attract  to  that  inte- 
resting district,  a  crowd  of  settlers  from  the  more  populous  parts 
of  New  York,  from  East  Jersey,  and  from  the  New  England 
slates,  principally  of  the  Presbyterian  and  Congregational  denomi- 
nations. The  people  thus  emigrating  and  the  religious  teachers 
accompanying,  diflered  very  much  among  themselves  in  educa- 
tion, in  sectional  feelings,  in  ecclesiastical  forms,  and  in  theologi- 
cal opinions.  The  principles,  in  particular,  of  Presbyterian  and 
Congregational  Church  government,  were  soon  found  to  be  so 
uncongenial,  as  to  present  great  difliculties  to  those  of  this  mixed 
character,  who  attempted  as  one  body  to  build  churches  and  con- 
duct ecclesiastical  alTairs.  Their  infant 'eftbrts  at  missionary  en- 
terprise were  met  by  the  same  obstacles  and  speedily  produced 
imhappy  results. 

On  this^  arena  in  western  New  York,  whose  settlements  were 
new  and  heterogeneous,  the  difficulty  originated  which  agitated 
the  Presbyterian  Church  most  painfully  for  some  years,  till  it  pro- 


OLD    SCHOOL    VI^"DICATED.  31 

duced  the  convulsive  disruption  of  1837.  This  afflicting  process, 
in  all  its  stages,  was  introduced  and  coerced  by  the  abuse  of  a 
compromise  measure,  agreed  upon  between  the  Congregational 
and  Presbyterian  denominations,  A.  D.  1801,  and  usually  called 
ihe  Plan  of  Union,  in  the  neio  settlements.'^  Dr.  Judd  has  mis- 
taken one  fact  in  regard  to  the  origin  of  this  plan.  His  words 
are,  "  Here  let  it  be  borne  in  mind,  that  this  plan  originated  wiu! 
Presbyterians,  and  was  by  their  General  Assembly  proposed  h' 
the  General  Association  of  Connecticut,  and  by  both  bodies  unan- 
imously adopted."  Probably,  this  error  has  proceeded  from  the 
fact,  that  the  authority  relied  upon  for  the  history  of  this  transac- 
tion, is  the  Assembly's  Digest,  which  does  not  contain  the  vi'hole 
record.  By  referring  to  the  minutes  of  the  Assembly  for  18G0- 
1801,  it  will  be  perceived  that  the  Plan  was  first  proposed  by  the 
Genera]  Association  of  Connecticut.  "In  the  minutes  for  1800 
is  the  following:  the  Rev.  Dr.  Jonathan  Edwards,  the  Rev.  i\.sa 
HylHer,  and  Jonathan  Freeman,  were  appointed  delegates  from 
this  Assembly  to  the  General  Association  of  Connecticut,"  &c. 
Jn  the  minutes  of  1801,  we  find  their  report,  as  follows:  "  Tlie 
delegates  from  the  Genera]  Assembly  to  the  General  Association 
of  Connecticut,  report,  that  they  have  attended  according  to  ap- 
pointment, through  the  whole  course  of  the  sessions  of  the  Gene- 
ral Association.  That  besides  the  business  peculiar  to  the  churches 
of  Connecticut,  the  General  Association  appointed  a  committee  \o 
confer  with  a  committee  that  may  be  appointed  by  the  General 
Assembly,  on  measures  which  may  promote  union  among  the  in- 
habitants of  the  new  settlements,  and  the  missionaries  to  those 
settlements,  as  appears  by  the  enclosed  paper."  Immediately 
after  the  committee  had  reported,  the  paper  referred  to  above 
was  read,  the  minute  concerning  which  is  as  follows  :  •'  A  commu- 
nication was  read  from  the  General  Association  of  the  state  of 
Connecticut,  appointing  a  committee  to  confer  with  a  committee 
of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  to  consider  the  measures  proper  to 
be  adopted  by  the  General  Association  and  the  General  Assembly, 
for  establishing  a  uniform  system  of  church  government  betv/een 
the  inhabitants  of  the  new  settlements,  who  are  attached  to  the 
Presbyterian  form  of  government,  and  those  who  prefer  the  Con- 
gregational form." 

"Ordered  that  the  said  communication  lie  on  the  table."  Suc- 
ceeding this,  on  the  same  page,  is  the  following :  The  Rev.  Drs. 
Edwaixls,  McKnight,  and  Woodhull,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Blatchford  and 
Mr.  Hutton,  were  appointed  a  committee  to  consider  and  digest 
a  plan  of  government  for  the  churches  in  the  new  settlements, 
agreeably  to  the  proposal  of  the   General  Association  of  Con- 

*  Division  of  the  Church,  p.  11. 


32  OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED. 

necticuf,  and  report  the  same  as  soon  as  convenient.  Then  fol- 
lows the  report  of  the  committee,  as  contained  in  the  Digest,  page 
297,  as  follows  : 

"  The  report  of  the  committee  appointed  to  consider  and  digest 
a  plan  of  government  for  the  churches  in  the  new  settlements, 
was  taken  up  and  considered,  and  after  mature  deliberation  on 
the  same,  approved,  as  follows: 

"'  Regulations  adopted  hy  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyte- 
rian Church  in  America,  and  by  the  General  Association  of 
the  state  of  Connecticut,  [provided  said  Association  agrees  to 
them.)  with  a  view  to  prevent  alienation  and  promote  union 
and  harmony  in  those  new  settlements  which  are  composed  of 
inhabitants  from  these  bodies: 

"  I.  It  is  strictly  enjoined  on  all  their  missionaries  to  the  new  set- 
tlements, to  endeavor  by  all  means  to  promote  mutuiil  forbear- 
ance and  ac(!omodation  between  those  inhabitants  of  the  new 
.settlements  v.'ho  hold  the  Presbyterian  and  those  who  hold  th<; 
Congregational  form  of  church  government. 

"  JI.  Jf  in  the  new  settlements  any  church  of  the  Congregational 
order  shall  settle  a  minister  of  the  Presbyterian  order,  that  church 
may,  if  they  choose,  still  conduct  their  discipline  according  to 
(Jongregational  principles,  settling  their  difficulties  among  them- 
t^elves,  or  by  a  council  mutually  agreed  upon  for  that  purpose. 
But  if  any  difiiculty  shall  exist  between  the  minister  and  the 
church,  or  any  member  of  it,  it  shall  be  referred  to  the  Presby- 
tery to  which  the  minister  shall  belong,  provided  both  parties 
afjrceto  i*;  if  not,  to  a  council,  consisting  of  an  equal  number  of 
Presbyterians  and  Congregationalists,  agreed  upon  by  both 
parlies. 

"III.  If  a  Presbyterian  church  shall  settle  a  minister  of  Con- 
gregational principles,  that  church  may  still  continue  their  disci- 
pline according  to  Presbyterian  principles;  except  that  if  a  diffi- 
culty arise  between  him  and  his  church,  or  any  member  of  it, 
the  cause  shall  be  tried  by  the  association  to  which  the  said  min- 
ister shall  belong,  provided  both  parties  agree  to  it;  otherwise  b\' 
a  council,  one  half  Congregationalists  and  the  other  half  Presby- 
terians, mutually  agreed  on  by  tlie  parties, 

"lY.  If  any  congregation  consist  partly  of  those  who  hold  the 
Congregational  form  of  discipline,  and  partly  of  those  who  hold 
the  Presbyterian  form,  we  recommend  to  both  parties  that  this  be 
no  obstruction  to  their  uniting  in  one  church  and  settling  a  min- 
ister; and  that  in  this  case  the  church  choose  o.  standing  commit- 
tee from  the  communicants  of  said  church,  whose  business  it 
shall  be  to  call  to  account  every  member  of  the  church  who  shall 
conduct  himself  inconsistently  with  the  laws  of  Christianity,  and 


OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED.  33 

to  give  judgment  on  such  conduct ;  and  if  the  person  condemned 
by  their  judgment  be  a  Presbyterian,  he  shall  have  Uberty  to 
appeal  to  the  Presbytery;  if  a  Congregationalist,  he  shall  have 
liberty  to  appeal  to  the  body  of  the  male  communicants  of  the 
church;  in  the  former  case,  the  determination  of  the  Presbytery 
shall  be  final,  unless  the  church  consent  to  a  further  appeal  to  the 
Synod  or  to  the  General  Assembly ;  and  in  the  latter  case,  if  the 
party  condemned  shall  wish  for  a  trial  by  a  mutual  council,  the 
-cause  shall  be  referred  to  said  council;  and  provided  the  said 
standing  committee  of  any  church  shall  depute  one  of  themselves 
to  attend  the  Presbytery,  he  may  have  the  same  right  to  sit  and 
act  in  the  Presbytery,  as  a  ruling  elder  of  the  Presbyterian  Church. 
•'  Unanimously  adopted  by  the  Association." 


CHAPTER    lY 

ixoneral  character  of  the  Plan  of  Union — Objects  of  the  parties  to  it — Their 
character,  probable  feelings,  and  aims — Temporary  and  transient  impor^ 
of  the  title,  "  Plan  of  Union  for  the  New  Settlements."  ' 

iiv  tiie  following  detail,  the  matters  which  relate  to  chu^rch. 
government  and  theological  opinion,  will  be  considered  separate 
and  apart,  as  far  as  found  practicable.  At  this  point  in  the  illus- 
tration, we  shall  confine  ourselves  to  the  subject  of  ecclesiastical 
government,  as  most  intimately  connected  with  the  Plan  of  Union. 
As  a  preliminary  remark,  we  observe  that  in  surveying  the  com- 
i)romise  scheme,  it  cannot  be  doubted,  that  it  was  intended  pri- 
marily and  principally  to  accommodate  the  good  people  of  the 
mixed  character  referred  to,  who  were  living  on  the  frontiers, 
!)rincipally  of  Western  1>\q\w  York,  or  in  the  new  settlements. 
I^or  wiil  any  who  candidly  estimate  the  terms,  the  circumstances, 
and  the  time  of  the  Plan,  deny  that  this  friendly  arrangement  was 
intended  to  be  temporary,  and  tc  pass  away  with  the  period  and  the 
exigencies  which  gave  it  birth.  tSurely,  nobody  expected  that  those 
settlefhents  and  locations  were  always  to  continue  new,  or  that  the 
people  of  each  distinct  and  opposite  religious  class  were  forever 
to  remain  untaught,  inexperienced,  and  unmitigatedly  hostile  to- 
wards ever}'  form  of  ecclesiastical  administration  but  their  own. 
Now  the  Presbyterian  fathers,  w'ho  were  active  then,  in  yielding 
To  this  innovation,  many  of  them  from  the  beginning  considering 
it  of  doubtful  expediency,  unquestionably  contemplated,  as  a  se- 
cond and  weighty  motive  in  favor  of  the  Plan,  the  enlargement 
of  their  own  church;  they  had  a  right  to  do  so;  this  was  to  them 

0 


S4  OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED. 

a  legitimate  result ;  the  ground  was  universally  considered  as 
Presbyterian  ;  it  was  no  part  of  New  England :  their  preponderance 
in  numbers  on  the  ground  was  very  great.  Hence  their  confident 
belief  was,  that  the  Congregational  brethren  living  already  within 
the  bosom  of  the  Presbyterian  family,  after  becoming  practically 
familiar  with  their  name,  their  principles,  and  forms,  would  gradu- 
ally amalgamate  with  the  great  Presbyterian  body,  and  render 
the  existence  of  this  incongruous  plan  of  intercourse  in  a  short 
time  no  longer  requisite. 

As  the  genius  of  New  England  had  scarcely  begun  to  develop 
itself,  it  was  quite  easy  and  natural  for  the  unsuspecting  fathers 
of  the  Presbyterian  family,  who  unfortunately  became,  in  some 
sort,  a  party  to  the  platform  of  1801,  to  make  an  erroneous  esti- 
mate of  the  people  with  whom  they  were  treating,  and  of  the  re- 
sult they  fondly  anticipated.  Indeed,  the  talent  and  enterprise  or 
the  New  England  people,  as  since  displayed  in  every  field,  m 
every  clime,  in  every  art,  in  all  forms  of  business,  at  home  and 
abroad,  upon  the  land  and  the  sea,  have  not  failed  to  excite  the 
surprise  and  the  admiration  of  mankind.  In  the  arts  of  invention, 
performance,  and  endurance,  in  the  school  room,  the  laboratory, 
the  forum,  the  council  chamber  or  cathedral,  in  the  legislative 
hall  or  judicial  tribunal,  they  arc  always  at  home  and  at  ease. 
Whether  tasked  to  manufacture  a  pin  or  a  comb,  to  make  a  sii.i 
reel,  a  cotton  gin,  a  steam  engine,  or  a  telescope,  they  have  a 
tact,  a  versatility,  a  plenitude  of  skill  and  resort,  always  adequate 
and  ever  at  command. 

What  folly  then  to  attempt  to  limit  or  bind  such  minds — such 
a  generation  of  men — by  a  loosely  and  absurdly  constituted  bond 
of  union  or  of  intei'course,  like  that  of  1801  !  It  was  certainly  a 
measure  of  daring  and  doubtful  adventure,  to  admit  at  all,  into  so 
near  and  intimate  ecclesiastic  alliance,  a  company  of  men  so  in- 
spired with  restless  activity  and  enterprise,  so  eminently  fond  ot 
change,  as  well  as  of  progress.  As  monumental  evidence  of  their 
theological  deflections  at  home  from  the  right  standard,  we  may 
recite  from  observation  made  about  thirty  years  ago,  that  a 
traveller  passing  through  their  towns  and  villages,  would  see.  in 
most  of  them,  in  shocking  juxtaposition  and  contrast,  the  Unita- 
rian and  so  called  Orthodox  church,  visible  from  the  same  posi- 
tion. It  is  not  wonderful  that  the  same  people,  emigrating  to 
other  lands  and  neighborhoods,  should  carry  with  them,  and  scat- 
ter profusely,  similar  aberrations. 

The  New  England  party  who  had  proposed  this  negotiation, 
no  doubt  looked  on  with  great  interest.     With  the  penetration  and 
intelligence  belonging  naturally  to  their  craggy  hills,  they  could 
not  fail  to  perceive  the  picturesque  and  beautiful  features  whici 
marked  even  the  wilderness  and  solitary  place,  and  they  coi' 


OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED.  .  35 

easily  anticipate  the  order,  fertility,  and  comeliness,  which  talent 
and  industry,  taste  and  refinement,  would  soon  intermingle  with 
the  wild  siinplicity  and  rude  magnificence  of  nature,  in  that  new 
and  romantic  region.  How  strong,  then,  must  have  been  the  at- 
tractions of  that  field  of  promise,  much  more  than  of  fiction,  when, 
in  the  glowing  ardor  of  their  warm  imaginations,  enlightened  and 
enlivened  by  iheir  Christian  zeal,  the  first  New  England  adven- 
turers surveyed  those  extended  hills  and  vales,  as  radiated, 
adorned,  and  sanctified  by  gospel  grace!  The  secret  stimulating  and 
thrilling  hope,  that  this  land  would  soon  be  theirs,  that  their  Chris- 
tian enterprise  and  earnestness  would  leave  the  slow  and  plodding 
footsteps  of  tardy  Presbyterians,  though  first  in  the  field,  far  be- 
hind, and  secure  to  Congregational  schools  and  churches,  religious 
doctrines  and  forms  of  devotion,  a  decided  pre-eminence  and  ac- 
knowledged triumph.  With  these  feelings  in  the  breasts  of  many 
of  New  England's  Levitical  sons,  the  competition  commenced, 
iia  the  platform  of  1801,  in  the  new  settlements.  The  results  are 
to  be  presented  in  these  pages. 

Thus  our  honest,  kind,  and  excellent  ecclesiastical  fathers  com- 
mitted a  great  mistake.  They  never  dreamed  that  a  large  por- 
tion of  the  mixed  population  from  the  Eastern  States  were  making 
calculations  on  the  subject  of  church  extension,  of  the  same  kind 
with  themselves,  Little  did  the  majority  at  all  apprehend  the 
sad  inroads  upon  their  system,  by  the  new  settlers,  which  their 
successors  have  found  it  imperiously  necessary  to  remedy  by  a 
decisive  act  of  amputation,  which  it  is  the  object  of  these  pages 
to  explain  and  to  vindicate. 

Certainly,  no  reasonable  man,  who  knew  the  organization  of 
these  distinct  branches  of  the  church  and  regarded  the  interests 
of  true  religion,  could  expect  that  two  religious  bodies,  under  a 
fictitious,  not  a  real  union,  each  retaining  its  own  peculiar  and 
irreconcilable  features,  should  continue  long  to  act  harmoniously 
together,  or  that  the  profoundly  sagacious  and  politic  actors,  on 
the  Presbyterian  part,  should,  notwithstanding  their  zeal  for  har- 
mony, deliberately  devise  and  adopt  a  plan  for  perpetual  obser- 
vance, in  which  elements  so  uncongenial  hold  so  prominent  and 
governing  a  place  ;  bringing  incessantly  into  juxtaposition,  or  un- 
avoidable conflict,  the  essential  features  of  the  scheme ;  the  end 
of  which  collision  must  necessarily  be  discord  and  strife. 

By  this  apparently  conciliatory  devise  of  1801,  the  Presbyte- 
rian church  threw  down  their  walls  of  defence;  they  opened 
their  bosom  to  the  ingress  of  strangers ;  they  invited  the  active 
leaven  of  discord  and  confusion  to  enter;  they  entailed,  unde- 
signedly, upon  their  sons  and  their  successors,  a  task,  the  neces- 
sity of  which  they  will  never  cease  to  deplore,  but  the  firm  and 
righteous  performance  of  which  they  will  as  soon  cease  to  justify. 


36.  OLD    SCHOOL    VIIVDICATED. 

Were  those  new  settlements  still  new  after  a  lapse  of  thirty- 
five  years  1  Had  not  those  frontiers  long  before  been  lost  and 
overwhelmed  by  the  vast  tide  of  emigration  and  improvement 
going  west ;  put  off  their  infant  character  in  the  midst  of  a  dense 
population,  of  full  maturity  and  large  resources'?  Were  they  to 
be  kept  forever  under  the  same  system  of  tutelage  and  temporary 
yoke  of  bondage  as  those  who  have  always  need  to  be  taught 
which  be  the  first  principles  of  the  oracles  of  faith  and  order  in 
the  Christian  church?  If  then  the  plan  adapted  to  the  new  set- 
tlements, in  their  new  and  infant  state,  was  temporary,  how  long 
should  it  last  ?  Certainly  no  longer  than  to  prove  itself  extensively 
successful  or  entirely  abortive.  Certainly  not  after  it  had  plainly 
become  mischievous  ;  not  after  the  mischief  springing  from  it  had 
multiplied  to  such  an  enormous  extent  as  to  threaten  speedy  ex- 
termination and  complete  revolution  to  the  whole  church. 


CHAPTER    V.         ' 

Chief  grounds  of  the  Vindication  stated — Unconstitutionality  of  the  Plan 
of  Union  considered  and  exposed. 

The  writer  bases  his  vindication  of  the  measures  pursued  by 
the  Old  School  in  the  Presbyterian  Church,  to  correct  the  grand 
mistake  of  1801,  and  to  terminate  its  evil  results,  mainly  upon  the 
four  following  grounds,  viz  : 

I.  The  unconstitutionality  of  the  Flan  of  Union. 

II.  The  disorders  which  proceeded  from  it  in  the  Presbyterian 
Church. 

III.  The  false  and  dangerous  theological  opinions  to  which  that 
plan  gave  rise,  within  the  limits  of  the  Presbyterian  body. 

IV.  The  fact  that  a  combination  was  detected  among  the  New 
School  party  in  the  church,  whose  object  was  to  demolish  the 
■whole  fabric  of  the  Presbyterian  organization,  in  every  essential 
feature,  and  to  substitute  another,  differently  constructed;  indeed, 
founded  and  to  be  conducted  upon  principles  totally  irreconcilable 
with  the  organization  and  administration  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church. 

We  shall  not  very  particularly  labor  to  observe  this  division  of 
the  subject,  especially  in  the  order  stated,  and  yet  we  hope  not  to 
fail  of  producing  an  abundance  of  material  to  illustrate  and  sup- 
port each  and  every  one  of  the  particulars  above  presented. 

I.  The  unconstitutionality  of  the  Plan  of  Union  is  here  pre- 
sented as  a  ground  upon  which  to  justiiy  its  abrogation. 


OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED.  37  ' 

As  there  has  been  much  exhibited  on  this  subject,  which  is  now 
in  print,  in  the  form  of  speeches,  discussions,  and  criticisms,  all 
couched  in  well  arranged  thought  and  language,  we  shall  select 
freely,  in  the  sequel,  from  the  materials  before  us,  what  appears 
best  adapted  to  our  purpose,  without  particularity  of  reference. 

Unconstitutionality  may  relate  to  the  powers  of  the  parties  en- 
gaged in  framing  the  plan,  or  to  the  matter  involved  in  it.  A  few 
references  from  articles  in  the  constitution  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church,  will  enable  any  one  to  see  at  once  the  utter  incompati- 
bility of  the  Plan  of  Union  with  that  instrument.  "Before  any 
overtures  or  regulations,  proposed  by  the  Assembly  to  be  estab- 
lished as  constitutional  rules  shall  be  obligatory  on  the  churches, 
it  shall  be  necessary  to  transmit  them  to  all  the  Presbyteries,  and 
to  receive  the  returns  of  at  least  a  majority  of  them,  in  writing., 
approving  thereof."  See  Constitution,  chapter  XIL,  section  6. 
Here  the  General  Assembly  are  positively  prohibited  from  adopt- 
ing any  principle,  regulation,  or  agreement,  on  any  subject,  with 
any  party,  under  any  circumstances,  tending  to  enlarge  or  abridge, 
infringe,  or  change,  any  part  of  the  constitution  of  the  Church. 
Having  no  power  in  themselves  to  make  any  change  in  our  eccle- 
siastical system,  without  authority  derived  from  the  Presbyteries, 
nil  their  attempts  at  it  are  necessarily  null  and  void.  This  being 
most  manifestly  true,  the  people,  the  great  body  of  the  church, 
cannot  be  bound  by  their  unauthorized  act.  It  is  not  material 
which  party  proposed  the  Plan  of  Union — whether  the  General 
Association  of  Connecticut,  which  is  the  fact,  or  the  General 
Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church — neither  had  power  to 
make  it  bindins;.  The  former  of  these  bodies  does  not  exist  and 
act  in  such  character  and  manner  as  to  give  validity  to  such  a 
transaction,  and  the  latter  is  restricted  by  a  positive  prohibition. 
Now  the  interests,  the'  rights,  the  forms  invested,  as  is  said,  or 
secured  in  this  plan  of  action  of  1801,  will  show  at  once  that  it 
repudiates  and  defies  all  constitutional  provisions  and  arrange- 
ments. Let  us  analyze  the  plan,  and  examine  it  in  a  iew  partic- 
ulars. This  new  mode  of  action  authorizes  **  a  Presbyterian 
preacher  to  become  the  pastor  of  a  Congregational  Church,  (see 
Plan  of  Union,  sections  1  and  2,  this  vol.  p.  32,)  and  the  church 
may  still,  if  they  choose,  conduct  their  discipline  according  to 
Congregational  principles,  settling  their  difficulties  among  them- 
selves, or  by  a  council  mutually  agreed  upon  for  that  purpose ;'' 
*'  but  if  any  difficulty  should  arise  between  the  minister  and  the 
church,  or  any  member  of  it,  it  shall  be  referred  to  the  Presby- 
tery to  which  the  minister  shall  belong,  provided  both  parties 
agree  to  it ;  if  not,  to  a  council  composed  of  an  equal  number 
of  Presbyterians  and  Congregationalists,  agreed  upon  by  both 
parties." 


38  OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED. 

Again,  the  Plan  provides  that  when  a  Presbyterian  Church 
has  a  Congregational  pastor,  the  discipline  must  be  exercised  on 
the  Presbyterian  plan.  If  difficulty  arises  between  such  a  pastor 
and  his  church,  the  matter  in  dispute  must  be  referred  to  his  asso- 
ciation, or  to  a  mutual  council. 

Again,  the  Plan  provides,  that  when  a  congregation  is  com- 
posed partly  of  Presbyterians  and  partly  of  Congregationalists, 
the  Plan  recommends  that  they  should  unite  and  form  one  con- 
gregation, settle  a  minister,  choose  a  standing  committee  to  ad- 
minister discipline;  that  a  CongregationaHst  may  appeal  from  the 
judgments  of  this  committee  to  ihe  male  members  of  the  churcii  •, 
a  Presbyterian  may  appeal  to  his  own  Presbytery,  whose  decision 
shall  settle  the  difficulty,  unless  the  church  consent  to  a  further 
appeal  to  the  Synod  or  General  Assembly. 

Again,  observe  a  concluding  provision  of  much  importance, 
which  has  been  greatly  abused.  "  If  a  standing  committee,  while 
this  case  of  discipline  is  in  process,  shall  depute  one  of  themselves 
to  attend  Presbytery,  he  may  have  the  same  right  to  sit  and  act 
in  Presbytery  as  a  ruling  elder  of  the  Presbyterian  Church." 

Now,  after  this  brief  recital  of  the  outlines  of  this  anomalous 
plan,  may  we  not  ask,  what  part  of  the  plain,  consistent,  and 
well  ordered  constitution  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  is  not  violated 
and  set  aside  by  this  incongruous  cngrafture?  No  wit  of  man 
could  more  effiectually  supersede  Presbyterianism,  or  devise  a 
scheme  better  adapted  to  create  difficulty  and  confusion.  The 
leading  features  of  our  ecclesiastical  system,  are  placed  in  a 
character  of  entire  subversion  or  perpetual  vacillations,  and  a 
compound  fabric  of  immisceable  elements  is  substituted  for  it. 
Surely  it  must  be  admitted,  that  under  the  Presbyterian  organiza- 
tion, every  rule  enjoined  is  intended  for  pure  Presbyterian  con- 
gregations and  Presbyterian  pastors,  to  be  received  as  such,  re- 
tained as  such,  and  observed  as  such.  The  Plan  of  Union,  pur- 
suing an  object  entirely  diflerent,  provides  for  bringing  into  this 
connexion.  Congregational  churches  and  ministers,  and  making 
them  an  integral  component  part  of  our  body,  members  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church.  Besides,  the  Plan  allows  these  Congrega- 
tionalists, unchanged  in  their  principles  and  sympathies,  to  con- 
tinue in  the  Presbyterian  body  ad  libitum:  to  enjoy  the  rights  and 
privileges  of  pure  Presbyterians ;  to  exercise  the  powers  of  Pres- 
byterians in  the  church,  in  administering  its  discipline,  governing 
its  members,  and  wielding  its  power;  thus  assisting  to  make  and 
enforce  rules  and  decisions  over  others  to  which  they  themselves 
are  not  in  the  slightest  degree  amenable ;  for  be  it  remembered, 
they  are  permitted,  in  any  emergency,  to  lake  refuge  under  the 
provisions  of  the  Congregational  Church. 

For  example,  in  those  mixed  congregations,  the  constitutional 


OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED.  39     ^, 

rule  requiring  the  church  to  be  organized  with  a  pastor  and 
bench  of  elders,  is  set  aside ;  and  for  the  elders  is  substituted  a 
standing  committee,  who  are  to  exercise  the  same  powers  as 
ciders,  without  any  responsibility  to  the  Presbyterian  Church. 
On  this  plan,  the  whole  theory  and  process  of  church  discipline  is 
converted  into  a  fluctuating  caprice  or  scene  of  confusion.  Trials 
lor  offences,  among  church  members,  on  Presbyterian  principles, 
are  plain  and  easy.  By  the  Plan  of  Union,  offenders  are  some- 
times tried  by  the  male  members  of  the  church,  sometimes  by  a 
standing  committee,  and  the  remedy  of  appeal,  it  may  be,  from 
their  ignorant  and  erring  decisions,  to  higher  courts,  can  be  ob- 
tained only  by  getting  the  consent  of  masses  who  are  not  Pres- 
byterians themselves,  thus  completely  closing  the  avenues  to  jus- 
tice, and  frustrating  one  of  the  cardinal  and  most  precious  features 
lo  be  found  in  this  or  any  other  judicial  code,  the  right  of  appeal, 
to  courts  of  higher  order,  or  of  the  last  resort. 

The  ministers  of  the  gospel,  by  the  Presbyterian  system,  have 
a  right  to  be  tried  by  their  own  Presbytery,  but  the  Plan  of  Union 
[uovides  that  pastors  shall  be  tried  by  men  who  have  adopted  a 
different  system  of  faith,  different  rules  of  evidence,  and  different 
iorms  of  discipline.  The  constitution  of  the  Presbyterian  Church 
requires  that  every  candidate  for  the  sacred  office,  before  his  in- 
stallation to  a  church,  must  adopt  our  Confession  of  Faith  and 
form  of  government.  But  this  Plan  comes  in  upon  our  church 
with  a  tremendous  avalanche;  it  permits  a  Congregationalist  to' 
assume  the  pastoral  office,  with  all  its  sacred  responsibilities,  in  a 
manner  most  perfectly  free  from  all  restriction  or  ceremony.  The 
candidate  enters,  to  preside  in  church  sessions,  to  sit  in  Presbytery, 
lo  occupy  a  place  in  Synod  and. General  Assembly,*  and  to  preach 
the  gospel,  entirely  disregarding  the  constitutional  claims  of  the 
church  upon  every  intrant,  for  suitable  qualifications  and  pledges, 
l?^  this  total  exemption  from  rule,  or  elevation  above  it,  ever  per- 
mitted in  the  induction  of  a  regular  Presbyterian  candidate?  In 
no  case  whatever.  Who,  then,  can  be  so  blind,  or  so  prejudiced, 
as  not  to  see  that  the  Plan  of  Union  is  a  thing  entirely  different, 
in  every  important  point,  from  the  constitution  of  the  Presbyte- 
rian Church  ?  It  is  precisely  such  a  device  as  enemies  of  the 
church  ought  to  desire  for  the  purpose  of  breaking  down  its  old 
landmarks,  introducing  novelties,  enabling  Christians  of  another 
character,  spirit,  and  form,  to  bring  in,  mix  up,  diffuse  piecemeal, 
and  establish  uncongenial  peculiarities  of  another  organization, 
gradually,  but  incessantly  asserting  its  corrupting  influence,  and 
confirming  its  power,  till,  like  leaven,  it  leavens  the  whole  lump. 

*  This  is  the  construction  New  School  men  have  put  upon  the  last  clause 
of  Section  4.    See  Plan  of  Union,  p.  32. 


i  40 


OLD    SCHOOL    VIXDICATED. 


The  facilities  are  fully  afforded  in  this  New  England  plan  of 
amalgamation,  for  accomplishing  a  complete  change  in  the  Pres- 
byterian Church.  Only  set  such  a  company  of  men  to  work, 
under  privileges  and  auxiliaries  so  well  adapted,  with  such  talent, 
industry,  unscrupulousness,  and  perseverance,  and  revolution  in 
the  church  will  as  certainly  follow,  as  water  continue  to  run  down 
hill,  or  attraction  and  gravitation  to  prevail  in  matter.  The  facts 
to  be  presented  in  this  history  will  confirm  the  truth  of  these 
statements. 

It  is  true,  this  scheme  was  gravely  headed,  a  Plan  of  Union  ! 
It  is,  in  reality,  a  plan  of  division;  apian  of  undermining  the 
Presbyterian  Church  ;  a  plan  of  substituting  a  heterogeneous  mon- 
ster in  its  place;  a  plan  for  making  a  huge  mass  of  guano,  out  of 
which  almost  spontaneously  shall  vegetate  enormous  excresences ; 
a  Upas  tree,  which,  let  alone,  would  speedily  generate  poison 
enough  to  infect  the  whole  body  of  Christ's  Church  in  this  west- 
ern world.  We  may  well  ask,  who  has  a  right  to  supplant  the 
constitution  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  and  place  in  its  stead  a 
device  so  opposite  and  hostile  to  it  at  every  point?  The  fact  is 
conceded  on  all  sides  that  the  General  Assembly  had  not  this 
power.  It  is  equally  clear  and  certain  that  the  General  Associa- 
tion of  Connecticut  had  no  power.  The  document,  therefore, 
which  was  executed  by  these  two  ecclesiastical  bodies,  for  the 
purpose  of  becoming  an  instrument  of  binding  force,  was  just  as 
susceptible  of  it  as  would  have  been  a  sheet  of  blank  paper.  The 
whole  transaction  bears  the  aspect  of  a  legislative  or  advisory 
act,  for  the  benefit  of  the  churches  in  the  new  settlements.  To  this 
declaration,  the  Association  merely  grant  their  assent,  without 
giving  or  receiving  any  pledge.  The  Assembly  then  assume  the 
exclusive  agency,  and  are  the  only  party  in  the  case.  It  becomes 
a  domestic,  a  home  concern,  with  them,  to  promote  the  best  in- 
terests of  their  feeble  and  scattered  flocks,  and  to  be  continued  or 
cease  at  their  discretion. 


CHAPTER   VI. 

Lathrop's  Case  stated — Encroachments  of  New  School  men — First  Princi- 
ples, extract  from  a  sermon  delivered,  Princeton,  1820 — Opinions  of 
Vattel. 

II.  An  irresistible  argument  in  favor  of  repealing  this  Plan  is 
drawn  from  the  irregularities  and  disorders  deforming  and  dis- 
turbing the  church,  which  have  been  for  many  years  flowing  in 


OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED.  41  % 

at  this  unlawful  inlet.  It  is  true  that  n:iany  years  before  ihe  ab- 
rogation, the  remark  was  frequently  made,  that  there  was  no  ob- 
jection to  the  Plan  of  Union.  This,  however,  was  a  great  mis- 
take. For  a  number  of  years,  probably  eight  or  ten,  it  made  but 
little  impression  on  the  public  mind:  And  w^ien  dissatisfaction 
began  to  speak  out,  to  its  feeble  whispers  of  apprehension,  which 
began  to  be  uttered  about  1810  or  1812,  it  was  responded  by  the 
careless  and  the  cunning,  why  trouble  ourselves  about  the  i'Jan 
of  Union ;  it  is  an  inoperative,  harmless  thing,  and  if  let  alone,  it 
will  die  of  itself.  In  this  manner  the  spirit  of  vigilance  and  re- 
sistance was  partially  put  to  rest  at  the  time.  Soon  afterwards, 
when  farther  developments  of  its  mischeivous  tendency  had  pro- 
duced deeper  impressions  of  disgust,  and  louder  remonstrance, 
criticism  and  censure  were  objected  to  on  an  opposite  ground. 
Oh  !  say  the  friends  of  this  incipient^ew  School  wedge,  the  Plan 
has  existed  so  long  that  it  has  received  the  sanction  of  the  church : 
the  silence  and  acquiescence  of  the  Presbyterian  body  have  given 
to  it  their  sanction,  and  confirmed  it  as  a  valid,  integral  pari  of 
their  great  system.  The  attempt,  however,  to  gain  some  advan- 
tages for-  Congregationalism,  from  usage  and  from  apparently 
tacit  indulgence,  while  it  seemed  to  encourage  the  bold  advance^ 
of  the  intruders,  inspired  the  greater  alarm  among  the  possessor?-. 
A  striking  instance  of  this  kind  occurred  in  the  General  Assem- 
bly of  1820,  of  which  the  writer  happened  to  be  a  member.  At 
the  organization,  a  young  man,  in  appearance  about  twenty-five 
years  of  age,  by  name  Daniel  W.  Lathrop,  delegated  by  Hartford 
Presbytery,  New  Connecticut,  presented  himself  under  the  char- 
acter of  a  committee  man,  and  demanded  a  seat  in  the  House. 
The  minutes  for  that  year  record  nothing  peculiar  in  the. case, 
but  the  facts  are  perfectly  well  recollected,  and  are  here  presented 
as  a  specimen  of  what  occurred  frequently  soon  after  in  the  As- 
sembly, and  yet  the  minutes  make  very  little  record  of  the  serious 
struggles  which  occurred  on  these  occasions.  Mr.  Lathrop  boldly 
avowed  himself  as  a  committee  man  in  a  congregation  of  the 
Presbytery  of  Hartford.  His  admission  was  opposed  by  m'any 
members,  from  different  districts  of  the  church,  on  constitutional 
grounds.  It  was  urged  very  temperately,  that  Congregationahsm 
was  always  out  of  place,  and  then  becoming  increasing]}'  dan- 
gerous within  the  Presbyterian  Church  ;  that  encroachments  were 
multiplying  in  various  ways,  and  our  church  and  her  institutions. 
already  sufiering  injury,  and  liable  every  year  to  aggravated 
harm  from  those  influences;  that  unless  a  prompt  and  efficient 
check  were  put  upon  these  infractions  of  our  elementary  princi-, 
pies  and  safeguards,  no  man  could  tell  when  and  where  they 
would  end.  Some  of  the  opposers,  after  examining  the  charter 
of  the  church  and  the  Plan  of  Union,  declared  without  fear  or 


42  OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED. 

reservation,  that  tlie  claimant  liad  not  the  shghtest  shade  of  a  ri::fht 
to  a  seat  in  the  Assembly.  On  more  particular  inquiry,  it  was 
ascertained  that  the  ciiurch  which  sent  i)im  did  not  possess  a  fea- 
ture of  Presbyterianism  at  all.  A  warm  debate  ensued.  The 
principal  advocates  for  his  admission  were  from  the  vicinity  of 
Albany,  and  the  neighborhood  of  the  Western  Reserve,  Ohio. 
Ivev.  Arthur  I.  Stansbury,  from  the  city  of  Albany,  was  promi- 
nent in  advocating  the  admission  of  Mr.  Lathrop.  Old  fashioned 
Presbyteiians,  wiio  lifted  their  voice,  had  but  little  influence. 
The  mild  and  paternal  counsel  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  John  Woodhull, 
of  New  Brunswick  Presbyter}',  one  of  the  committee  who  re- 
jjorted  the  Plan  of  Union,  in  the  Assembly  of  1801,  but  was  never 
satisfied  with  the  Plan,  amidst  the  noisy  vociferation  of  several 
young  speakers,  which  pervaded  the  house,  in  favor  of  the  motion 
to  admit,  scarcely  obtained  a«dclibcrate  hearing.  The  advocates 
appealed  exquisitely  to  the  sympathies  of  the  members,  and  pro- 
tested against  the  rudeness  and  discourtesy  of  sending  Mr.  Lathrop 
back  under  a  frown,  after  so  long  a  travel  over  the  mountains  to 
secure  what  they  called  Jtis  riglits. 

After  a  short  interim  in  the  business  of  the  Assetnbly,  and  a 
conference  had  been  held  in  a  corner  of  the  house,  on  the  left 
hand  of  the  Moderator's  chair,  a  committee  from  Mr.  Lathrop's 
advocates  was  gravely  sent  to  the  writer  of  these  sheets,  with  an 
importunate  request  that  he  would  withdraw  his  opposition,  and 
acquiesce  in  the  application,  as  a  matter  of  personal  favor.  Of 
this  committee,  two  individuals  are  distinctly  recollected.  Rev. 
Arthur  i.  Stansbury,  of  Albany,  and  Rev.  Matthew  G.  Wallace, 
of  Miami  Presbytery,  Synod  of  Ohio.  At  this  critical  moment, 
the  illustrious  Jos.  Caldwell,  D.  D.,  of  Chapel  Hill,  North  Caro- 
lina, reputed  a  philosopher,  a  mathematician,  and  a  theologian, 
niade  a  labored  speech  in  favor  of  Mr.  Lathrop.  It  was  called 
the  one  idea  speech,  yet  it  was  so  magically  important  in  the  ab- 
sence of  every  thing  like  argument,  that  it  really  seemed  to  decide 
the  question.  The  argument,  if  it  may  be  so  called,  of  Dr.  Cald- 
well, with  its  one  idea,  was  so  profound  and  convincing,  while 
exltemely  simple,  that  the  power  of  resistance  seemed,;  in  great 
measure,  annihilated  in  the  house.  This  was  the  orator's  magical 
jilea  :  "  Mr.  Moderator — It  is  true  that  our  system  recognizes  in  this 
Assembly,  from  the  churches,  only  ruling  elders,  as  members. 
But  Mr.  Lathrop  was  appointed  to  do  the  work  of  an  elder  in  this 
house,  and  he  comes  in  the  place  of  an  elder,  and,  therefore,  ke  is 
an  elder,  and  ought  to  be  received."  Such  absurd  language, 
coming  from  a  man  of  supposed  sense  and  reason,  impressed  the 
house  with  the  idea  that  resistance  at  that  time  was  useless.  The 
New  School  were  so  elated 'with  this  victory,  that  it  was  cur- 
rently reported,  that  they  had  placed  the  successful  adventurer  on 


OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED.  43 

trials  for  the  ministry,  witiiout  even  allowing  him  time  to  visit 
home.  In  a  few  months,  he  came  out  of  their  mill,  accomplished, 
according  to  their  incipient  system,  as  a  laborer  in  the  field.  The 
success  of  this  enterprise,  in  forcing  Lathrop  upon  the  General 
Assembly,  exerted  a  powerful  influence  upon  the  party,  in  aug- 
menting their  confidence,  their  zeal,  and  the  sphere  of  their  action. 
The  predictions  of  several  prominent  men,  at  this  period,  soon  be- 
came matter  of  general  remark. 

These  minutire  are  introduced  to  show  how  unfounded  the  as- 
sertion was,  so  often  made  about  that  period,  that  the  Presbyterian 
Church,  as  a  body,  by  tacit  consent,  approved  and  confirmed  the 
Plan  of  Union.  The  event  above  recorded  took  place  in  the 
General  Assembly,  seventeen  years  before  the  Abrogation,  and 
cases  analogous  to  it  occurred  soon  after.  It  is  particularly  to  be 
regretted,  that  the  judge  and  counsellors  concerned  in  adjudicating 
thrs  case,  in  JMisi  Prius,  should  have  given  opinions  and  made 
statements  so  conflicting  with  one  another,  and  contrary  to  fact. 
For  example,  Judge  Rogers,  in  his  charge,  in  J\''isi  Prius,  (see 
Judd,  p.  2.32,)  says,  "all  parties  acquiesced  in  it  for  thirty-six 
yeco'S.'"  Into  this  grand  mistake.  Chancellor  Kent  had  fallen  some 
time  before.  In  his  opinion,  (Judd  264,)  he  says,  ♦' the  Plan  of 
tJnion  was  carried  into  operation  with  great  success,  and  with 
the  continued  approbation  of  the  Presbyteries  and  General  As- 
semblies of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  down  to  its  final  abrogation 
in  1837."  Again,  page  232,  Rogers  says,  "  the  court  is  also  of 
opinion,,  that  after  an  acquiescence  of  nearly  forty  years,"  &c., 
&c.  This  is  entirely  irreconcilable  with  true  history,  as  the  As- 
sembly's minutes  will  show. 

From  what  the  writer  observed  in  the  General  Assembly  of 
1820,  he  returned  home  deeply  convinced  that  decided  Congre- 
gationalists,  and  ministers  undul}^  influenced  by  Congregational 
sympathies,  were  more  thickly  scattered  through  the  church,  and 
much  more  actively  and  pertinaciously  engaged  in  propagating 
their  own  views,  than  was  generally  supposed.  It  was  still  as- 
serted by  some, — "  the  church  is  quiet  and  safe — there  is  no 
danger." 

To  call  public  attention  to  the  subject,  the  writer,  being  ap- 
pointed bv  Presbytery  to  deliver  a  discourse  at  the  installation  of 
the  Rev.  George  S.  Woodhull,  Princeton,  N.  J.,  July  5lh,  1820, 
preached  a  sermon,  which  was  printed,  with  the  title,  "  First 
Principles  :  or.  Hints  to  suit  the  times,  and  calculated  to  promote 
ecclesiastical  union,"  from  the  text,  Romans  x.  2:  "For  I 
bear  them  record,  that  they  have  a  zeal  of  God,  but  not  accord- 
ing to  knowledge."  The  following  extracts  from  that  discourse 
are  inserted  here  to  exhibit  the  feelings  and  views  prevalent,  at 
that  period,  in  regard  to  the  Plan  of  Union  and  the  New  School 


44  OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED. 

faction,  in  the  Presbyterian  Church,  among  the  members  of  this 
respectable  Presbytery.  It  is  true,  there  were  a  few  individuals, 
in  that  body  who  lifted  the  syren  voice — Peace!  Peace!  !  This 
voice  it  was  that  destroyed  confidence  and  aggravated  alarm. 

A  poition  of  this  discourse  is  addressed  "  To  those  within  the 
body  of  our  own  church,  who  entertain  sentiments  not  conformed 
to  our  established  standards."     We  extract,  p. 

"  That  a  considerable  number  of  individuals  of  this  description 
exist  in  the  Presbyterian  Church,  is  now  well  known.  I  shall  not 
attempt  to  specify  the  points  respecting  which  they  difler,  nor  to 
estimate  their  importance.  That  this  difference  exists,  is  the  fact 
assumed,  as  the  basis  of  my  remarks,  under  this  head. 

"  The  question  has  been  forced  upon  the  church,  what  course 
ought  she  to  pursue  in  regard  to  her  dissenting  members?  It 
would  be  presumption  in  me  to  attempt  defiinitcly  to  prescribe  her 
duty.  But  in  the  exercise  of  that  privilege,  and  under  the  con- 
straints of  that  responsibility,  which  are  common  to  all,  it  is  con- 
(ieived  not  to  be  foreign  from  the  business  of  this  day  to  suggest 
some  considerations  which  will  assist  in  forming  an  opinion  on 
tiifs  subject,  and  which  ought  to  have  influence  in  all  future  pro- 
ceedings relative  to  this  unhappy  disscntion. 

"  Tlie  following  principles  I  shall  lay  down  on  this  subject,- 
ronceivihg  them  to  be  incontrovertibly  sanctioned  by  reason, 
common  sense,  and  the  usages  of  mankind. 

"'I.  The  first  principle  is,  that  all  people  have  a  rigiit  to  as-, 
socjate  together  for  religious  purposes,  in  any  manner  suited  to 
their  views,  under  the  direction  of  the  word  of  God,  to  determine 
the  articles  of  their  faith,  their  plan  of  worship,  their  form  of  go- 
vernment, and  their  terms  of  membership.' 

» <  <  T  T  ^  *  -S  *  *  *  * 

*• '  III.  The  third  principle  aflirmed  is,  that  all  persons  becom- 
ing members  of  a  community  distinctly  organized,  are  bound  to 
comply  with  the  spirit  and  letter  of  the  terms  of  admission.' 

*'  The  principles  of  cominon  candour  and  honour  require  con- 
formity in  civil  society,  and  above  all,  conscience  and  consistency 
should  enforce  it  in  a  religious  community.  The  idea  that  any 
member,  however  voluntarily  and  sincerely  he  may  have  avowed 
at  first,  is  not  bound  afterwards  to  regard  his  obligations;  that 
he  is  at  liberty,  with  any  alteration  of  views  that  may  occur,' to 
change  his  faith  and  his  practice,  still  continuing  in  the  bosom  of 
the  society  he  has  chosen,  is  subversive  of  all  uniformity,  good 
faith,  and  established  order,  in  the  world  ;  it  tends  to  loosen  the 
ties  of  every  compact ;  it  represents  the  most  sacred  engage- 
ments as  a  mere  empty  form  of  momentary  convenience,  but 
possessing  no  practical  influence  or  binding  force.  What  can  be 
more  shocking  than  the  avowal  of  such  a  sentiment  in  the  Chris- 


OLD    SCHOOL    VIXDICATED.  45 

tian  church  !  The  articles  adopted  may  not  be  agreeable  to  the 
views  of  every  individual ;  the  Plan  of  Union  may  be  defective; 
the  comphance  required  may  be  attended  with  some  difficulties ; 
but  until  the  constitution  is  regularly  altered,  it  must  be  observed 
in  all  its  distinguishing  features,  according  to  the  pledge  origin- 
ally given." 

%  ^  VS  %  T^  ^'  '*■" 

"  The  obligations  imposed  upon  ministers  of  the  gospel,  upon 
ruling  elders,  and  implicitly  upon  all  professors  of  religion,  in  the 
Presbyterian  Church,  are  of  the  most  strong,  unequivocal  and 
saci'ed  nature.  They  '  declare  that  they  sincerely  receive  and 
adopt  the  confession  of  faith  of  this  church,  as  containing  the 
svstems  of  doctrines  taught  in  the  Holy  Scriptures  ;'  and  •  that 
they  approve  of  the  government  and  discipline  of  the  Presbyte- 
rian Church,  as  prescribed  in  the  form.'*  The  obligations  re- 
quired, though  comprised  in  seven  distinct  questions,  are  to  be 
c;onsidered  as  united  in  one  in  their  object  and  spirit.  Every 
question  proposed,  and  every  idea  suggested,  must  be  viewed  as 
inseparably  connected  with  all  that  precedes  and  follows. 

"'IV.  The  fourth  principle  is  this,  when  an  individual  belong- 
ing to  a  community,  whose  standards  he  has  engaged  to  observe, 
avows  sentiments  opposed  to  those  standards,  and  pursues  a 
course  calculated  to  contravene  the  established  principles  and  or- 

*  The  form  of  oLlio;ation  oliserved  in  the  Presbyterian  Church  is  in  sub- 
stance the  same  as  that  which  has  been  used  in  the  Church  of  Scotland, 
As  the  custom  there  was  to  subscribe  the  formula,  it  was  reduced  to  one 
concise  declaration.  For  the  gratification  of  the  reader,  we  insert  the  fol- 
b)wing  formula,  enacted  by  the  Assembly  of  t'le  Church  of  Scotland,  A.  !>. 
1711,  to  be  subscribed  by  all  such  as  shall  pass  trials  in  order  to  be  licens- 
ed, and  that  shall  be  ordained  ministers,  ®r  admitted  to  parishes. 

"I, ,  do  hereby  declare,  that  I  do  sincerely  own  and  believe  the 

whole  doctrine  contained  in  the  Confession  of  Faith,  approved  by  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly  of  this  National  Church,  and  ratified  by  law,  in  the  year 
1G90,  and  frequently  confirmed  by  divers  acts  of  Parliament  since  that 
time,  to  be  the  truths  of  God,  and  I  do  own  the  same  as  the  confession  of 
my  faith.  As  likewise  I  do  own  the  purity  of  the  Avorship  presently  au- 
thorised and  practiced  in  this  church,  and  also  the  Presbyterian  govern- 
ment and  discipline  now  so  happily  established  therein  :  which  ductrine. 
worship  and  chui'ch  government  I  am  persuaded  are  founded  upon  the 
word  of  God  and  are  agreeable  thereto :  and  I  promise,  that  through  the  grace 
of  God,  I  shall  firmly  and  constantly  adhere  to  the  same,  and  to  the  utmost 
of  my  power  shall,  in  my  place  and  station,  assert,  maintain  and  defend 
the  said  doctrine,  worship,  discipline  and  government  of  this  church,  by 
Kirk  Sessions,  Presbyteries,  Provincial  Synods,  and  General  Assemblies  , 
and  that  I  shall  in  my  practice  conibrm  myself  to  the  said  worship  and 
submit  to  the  said  discipline  and  government,  and  never  endeavour,  di- 
rectly nor  indirectly,  the  prejudice  or  subversion  of  the  same." 

See  preface  to  a  collection  of  the  Confessions  of  Faith  in  the  Churcl;  of 
Scotland.    See  also  Form  of  Government,  ch.  siv.  sec.  10. 


40  OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED. 

•der  of  the  system,  he  violates  his  engagements,  he  is  a  disorgani- 
zer  in  that  society,  and  a  disturber  of  its  peace.' 

"  A  foreign  emigrant,  who  obtains  citizenship  in  an  adopted 
country  by  subscribing  the  oath  of  allegiance  to  its  sovereign  and 
obedience  to  its  laws,  and  is  found  afterwards  to  entertain  senti- 
n:!ents  hostile  to  the  grand  charter  of  state  ;  to  difi'use  a  spirit 
of  insubordination- to  law,  and  of  rebellion  against  legitimate  au- 
thority, is  accounted  a  seditious,  treacherous  subject.*  He  is 
justly  charged  with  all  the  guilt  and  evil  attached  to  such  conduct. 
He  is  an  aggressor  against  a  peaceful  and  well  ordered  society. 
These  principles  will  apply  with  increased  force  to  dissenting 
members  of  a  religious  community,  in  which  there  is  reasonably 
expected  a  more  scrupulous  regard  to  moral  obligation,  and 
where  there  can  be  extended  comparatively  but  little  indulgence 
to  aggressors.  Whatever  painful  jealousies,  interruptions  of  har- 
mony, and  alienations  of  afi'ection  exist,  in  connexion  with  the  mat- 
ters in  controversy,  must  necessarily  be  ascribed  to  the  influence 
of  their  dissention ! 

"'  V.  Fifth  principle.  That  every  community  is  privileged  and 
obligated  to  preserve  and  perfect  itself,  as  far  as  practicable, 
agreeably  to  the  plan  of  its  organization,  by  guarding  its  institu- 
tions, enacting  and  enforcing  laws,  and  pursuing  such  a  system 
of  measures  as  it  may  esteem  calculated  to  improve  its  charac- 
ter and  promote  the  great  end  of  its  being.' 

"These  are  rights  and  duties  which  unquestionably  pertain  to 
societies  in  general.  Man,  as  an  individual  endowed  with  vari- 
ous faculties  and  susceptible  of  indefinite  improvement,  is  obliga- 
ted to  preserve  himself  from  harm,  to  cultivate  his  powers,  and 
so  to  pursue  the  end  of  his  existence  in  that  manner  which  ap- 
pears to  him  most  conducive  to  it.  And  groups  of  men,  associ- 
ated for  purposes  of  improvement  and  benevolence,  possess  cor- 
responding rights  and  are  under  similar  obligations.  '  In  the  act 
'>f  association,  in  virtue  of  which  a  number  of  men  form  a  state 
or  nation,  each  individual  has  entered  into  an  engagement  with 
all,  and  all  have  entered  into  engagements  with  each  individual, 
to  prosecute  the  common  welfare.'  Again,  '  If  a  nation  is  obliged 
to  preserve  itself,  it  is  not  less  obliged  to  preserve  all  its  mem- 
bers. The  nation  owes  this  to  itself,  since  the  loss  of  even  one 
of  its  members  weakens  it,  and  is  injurious  to  its  own  preserva- 

"■■■'  The  works  of  Vattel,  as  applied  to  political  communities,  are  exceed- 
ingly strong.  "  If  every  man  is  oI)ligated  to  entertain  a  sincere  love  for 
his  country,  and  to  procure  it  all  the  happiness  in  his  power,  it  is  a  shame- 
ful and  detestable  crime  to  injure  that  very  country.  He  who  becomes 
jfuilty  of  it,  violates  his  most  sacred  engagements  and  sinks  into  base  in- 
gratitude ;  he  dishonors  himself  by  the  blackest  perfidy,  since  he  abuses 
the  confidence  of  his  fellow-citizens,  and  treats  as  enem  as  those  who  had 
a  right  to  expect  hia  assistance  and  services." — Latvs  of  Nations. 


OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED.  47 

tion.'  Again,  '  Since  a  nation  has  a  right  to  preserve  itself,  it 
has  a  right  to  every  thing  necessary  to  its  preservation,  for  the 
law  of  nature  gives  us  a  right  to  every  thing  without  which  we 
could  not  fulfil  our  obligation.  A  nation  has  a  right  to  every 
thing  that  can  secure  it  from  threatening  danger,  and  keep  at  a 
distance  whatever  is  capable  of  causing  its  ruin.'* 

"These  general  principles  will  apply  to  religious  as  well  as  to 
civil  societies.  The  fundamental  rule  of  duty  for  every  moral 
being  towards  itself,  is  to  live  in  a  manner  conformable  to  its  own 
nature;  ^  naiurce  convenieiiler  vivere.''  The  Presbyterian  Church 
is  a  confederation  of  a  great  number  of  presbyteries,  churches, 
and  individuals,  for  the  purpose  of  glorifying  God,  and  promoting 
the  best  interests  of  all  her  parts,  by  giving  the  greatest  j.iractical 
etTect  to  her  doctrines,  laws,  and  ordinances,  as  exhibited  in  the 
Confession  of  Faith.  It  is  her  faith  that  constitutes  the  character, 
the  life,  and  the  glory  of  the  church.  This  is  indeed  her  all ;  for 
it,  then,  she  ought  earnestly  to  contend.  Her  morals,  her  devo- 
tion, her  happiness,  her  reputation  and  prosperity,  are  all  essen- 
tially dependent  upon  her  faith.  This  is  the  test  by  which  she  is 
tried  and  estimated,  on  earth  and  in  heaven.  The  political  laws 
and  institutions  of  a  state  may  be  defective  and  badly  adminis- 
tered, and  the  state  notwithstanding  be  opulent,  orderly,  and  pow- 
erful. But  if  the  sacred  creed  of  the  church  be  mutilated,  her 
glory  is  departed. 

"  VI.  The  sixth  and  last  principle  here  stated  is,  that  when  the 
highest  authority  in  a  regularly  organized  community,  connives 
at  the  introduction  of  opinions  opposed  to  the  essential  articles  of 
its  constitution,  and  attended  by  insubordinate  conduct,  it  opens  a 
way  for  greater  and  greater  deviations  from  good  order,  en- 
croachments on  its  stability  and  peace,  and  so  becomes  accessory 
to  its  own  ruin. 

"  Let  the  church  admit  the  idea  that  deviations  from  her  confes- 
sion may  be  tolerated,  and  a  door  is  opened  immediately  for  the 
introduction  of  all  kinds  of  spurious  sentiments.  If  there  is  any 
thing  amiss  in  our  standards,  let  it  be  corrected.  If  any  points 
now  embraced  in  our  summary  are  of  so  little  importance  that 
individuals  may  modify  them  at  pleasure,  let  those  points  be  dis- 
tinctly designated  by  competent  authority.  But  nothing  can  be 
more  dangerous  than  to  countenance  indefinite  deviations  from 
public  standards.  This  is  placing  the  whole  faith  of  the  church 
in  the  liands,  it  may  be,  of  the  least  discreet  individuals,  to  be 
altered  or  superseded  at  pleasure,  according  to  all  the  varieties  of 
perception  and  feeling  that  may  exist  through  the  whole  Presby- 
terian body.  If  one  person  may  be  permitted  to  expunge  or  alter 
an  indefinite  part  of  the  Confession,  which  has  become  offensive 

*  Vattel:    Book  I. 


48  OLD    SCHOOL    VliVDICATED. 

to  him,  the  same  indulgence  must  be  extended  to  a  second,  a 
third,  a  fourth,  and  so  on  till  you  exhaust  the  whole  number  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church.  If  the  principle  of  indefinite  deviation  be 
yielded,  it  is  a  large  and  unbounded  grant.  Numberless  schemes 
and  amendments  may  be  at  once  set  up,  and  the  utmost  confusion 
be  created  through  the  whole  church.  Indeed,  the  church  may 
be  brought  in  this  way  to  exhibit  the  anomalous  spectacle  of  a 
religious  community  without  a  creed,  or  as  possessing  a  creed 
which  nobody  believes;  or  what  is  still  more  absurd,  as  maintain- 
ing a  creed  and  no  creed,  at  the  same  time. 

"  That  pernicious  errors  often  grow  out  of  small  departures 
from  sound  system  of  faith  and  order,  the  protestant  world  can 
abundantly  attest.  This  often  happens  contrary  to  the  designs 
and  expectations  of  those  who  attempt  to  improve  upon  established 
tbrms.  Good  men,  frequently,  through  their  fondness  for  novelty 
and  distinction,  proceed  much  farther*  in  the  business  of  reform- 
ing and  overturning  than  they  at  first  contemplated.  The  mind 
becomes  pleased  with  its  own  imaginary  success,  and  pursues  its 
course,  vainly  supposing  it  is  adding  triumph  to  triumph,  till  it 
accomplishes  a  mighty  desolation  !" 


CHAPTER   VII. 

Second  general  reason  for  the  Abrogation — Disorders  in  tlieCiiurcli — In  the 
cs?cindeJ  Synods — Testimony  of  Dr.  James  Wood — His  character — En- 
croachments of  Congregationalists — Cases  recited,  and  facts  to  illustrate 
- — Congregational  and  Presbyterial  statistics — Synod  of  Ucica— Of  Ge- 
neva— Of  Genesee— Of  "Western  Eeserve — Comparative  numbers  of  botli 
parties. 

I\  continuing  the  history  of  Congregational  encroachments 
upon  the  Presbyterian  Church,  we  shall  closely  observe  the  nar- 
rative published  by  the  Rev.  James  Wood,  in  a  pamphlet  headed, 

''"To  attack  the  Constitution  of  the  state,  and  to  violate  its  laws,  is  a 
(Capital  crime  against  society;  and  if  those  guilty  of  it  are  vested  with  au- 
thority, they  add  to  their  crime  a  perfidious  abuse  of  the  power  with  which 
tliey  are  entrusted.  The  nation  ought  constantly  to  suppress  these  abuses 
with  its  utmost  vigor  and  vigilance,  as  the  importance  of  the  case  requires. 
It  is  very  uncommon  to  see  the  constitution  and  laws  of  a  state  openly  and 
boldly  opposed  ;  it  it  against  silent  and  slow  attacks  that  a  nation  ought  to 
be  particularly  on  its  guard.  Sudden  revolutions  strike  the  imaginations 
of  men;  we  write  histories  of  them  and  unfold  their  causes.  But  we  neglect 
the  changes  that  insensibly  happen,  by  a  long  train  of  steps,  that  are  but 


OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED.  fSf 

"  Facts  and  observations  concerning  the  organization  and  state 
of  the  Ciiurches  in  the  three  Synods  of  Western  New  York,  and 
the  Synod  of  Western  Reserve,  printed  Saratoga  Springs,  1837."' 
In  the  correctness  of  Mr.  Wood's  statements,  tiie  fullest  confidence 
may  be  placed.  He  was  a  native  of  the  settlements  in  question  ; 
\:q  witnessed  himself  a  great  portion  of  what  he  records;  he  is  a 
man  of  great  moderation,  and  of  incorruptible  truth  and  integrity. 
With  toil  and  sacrifice,  he  explored  the  region  lying  west  to  the 
lakes  and  far  beyond,  to  collect  the  appropriate  and  convincing 
facts  embodied  in  his  pamphlet  of  about  forty-eight  pages.  On 
the  thirty-sixth  page  of  this  pamphlet,  we  find  the  following  re- 
mark: "The  Plan  was  originally  intended,  not  as  the  medium 
through  which  Congregationalism  would  be  perpetuated  in  the 
Presbyterian  Church,  but  to  give  opportunity  for  Congregation- 
aiists  (if,  after  learning  the  character  of  our  system,  they  approved 
of  it.)  to  become  Presbyterians.  This  remark  applies  to  both 
parlies  in  the  arrangement.  The  ministers  of  Connecticut  were 
fii.vorable  to  the  Presbyterian  form  of  government:  one  feature 
of  it  was  already  in  existence  in  their  churches,  and  they  felt  will- 
ing, not  to  say  desirous,  to  have  their  people  who  should  emigrate 
to  other  states,  become  Presbyterian.  Dr.  McAuley,  in  a  s[)eech 
on  this  subject,  1826,  had  said,  'As  to  the  union,  they  had  said, 
that  it  had  not  been  gone  into  for  their  accommodation,  but  for 
ours;  that  they  had  agreed  to  it  for  two  reasons;  first,  because  it 
was  a  help  to  many  New  England  people,  in  the  infant  settlements.' 
towards  obtaining  gospel  ordinances;  and  secondly,  because  it 
assisted  the  Assembly  in  spreading  Piesbyterianism  through  that 
region.'  "  But,  instead  of  spreading  Presbyterianism,  Dr.  Wooa 
goes  on  to  say,  "  it  has,  in  a  large  number  of  cases,  spread  Con- 
gregationalism under  the  Presbyterian  name.  Pi'esbyteries  have 
not  only  been  formed  of  Congregational  materials,  but  with  an 
express  stipulation  that  they  might  always  remain  so,  and  yet 
continue  in  the  Presbyterian  Church.  And  then,  by  such  a  con- 
^truction  of  the  Playi  of  Union  as  was  never  intended  by  the 
original  framers,  they  claimed  the  right  of  sending  commissioners, 
who  were  not  ruling  elders,  to  the  General  Assembly.  x\ccord- 
ingly,"  Dr.  Wood  continues,  "-in  i82(),  a  commissioner  who  was 
not  a  ruling  elder,  from  Rochester  Presbytery,  was  received  by 
the  Assembly,  but  a  protest  v/as  immediately  entered  against  it. 

littla  observed.  It  would  be  do-inp;  an  important  service  to  nations,  to  sho^r 
from  history,  liovf  states  have  entirely  chanjred  their  naturei  and  iof-t  their 
i)rigin!i-l  constitution.  This  would  awaken  the  attention  of  the  people,  and 
from  thence-forward,  filled  with  the  excellent  maxim,  no  less  essential  \p 
politics  than  in  morals,  ' principiii  obs/a.'  they  would  no  lorgsr  shut  their 
eyes  against  innovations,  which,  though  inconsiderable  in  themselves,  mav 
serve  as  steps  to  mount  to  higher  and  niorc  pernicious  euternrises."  Vat- 
tel,  Book  1.,  chapter  III 


50  OLD   SCHOOL    VINDICATED, 

signed  by  forty-two  members.  In  1831,  a  commit  lee-man  was 
received  by  tlie  Assembly,  as  a  commissioner  from  Grand  River 
Presbytery,  against  wiiich  a  protest  was  entered,  signed  by  sixty- 
seven  members."  A  part  of  this  protest  we  shall  transcribe. 
•'  The  articles  of  agreement  alluded  to  in  the  beginning  of  this 
paper,"  referring  to  the  Plan  of  Union  of  1801,  "  are  supposed  to 
give  this  individual,  and  all  others  similarly  situated,  a  seat  in  this 
Assembly.  That  agreement  is  altogether  anomalous  to  our  form 
of  government,  and  so  far  as  it  does  extend,  is  in  derogation  of  it. 
Those  articles  can  never  cover  this  case." 

Although  the  Assembly  received  the  commissioner  above  re- 
ferred to,  they  adopted  a  resolution  that  the  appointment,  by  some 
Presbyteries,  as  has  occurred  in  a  few  cases,  of  members  of  stand- 
ing committees,  to  be  members  of  General  Assembly,  is  inexpe- 
dient and  of  questionable  constitutionality,  and  therefore,  ought 
not,  in  future,  to  be  made ;  yet  the  very  next  year,  the  same  Pres- 
bytery delegated  tcco  committee-men  as  commissioners  to  the  As- 
sembly; but  their  commissions,  after  being  placed  in  the  hands 
of  a  committee,  were  withdrawn. 

At  the  same  meeting,  there  was  a  conmiissioner  from  a  Pres- 
bytery in  Western  New  York,  who  was  neither  an  elder  nor  a 
committee-man;  nobody  present  being  acquainted  with  the  cir- 
cumstance, he  was  received.  The  next  year  a  cotnmittee-mau 
appeared  from  the  Presbytery  of  Oswego,  and  would  have  been 
received,  as  his  commission  did  not  specify  his  true  character; 
but  one  of  the  members,  who  had  incidentally  become  acquainterl 
with  the  fact,  made  it  known  to  the  house,  when  leave  was  given 
him  to  withdraw  his  commission.  "  These  facts,"  observes  Dr. 
Wood,  most  justly,  "are  inlroiiuced  to  show  with  what  tenacity 
those  Presbyteries  which  were  formed  in  pursuance  o(  the  Plan 
of  Union,  adhered  to  the  practice  of  sending  up  commissioners, 
even  after  the  Assembly  had  adopted  a  resolution  against  it.  In 
connexion  with  these  facts,  let  it  be  remembered,  that  the  churches 
formed  on  the  Plan  of  Union,  had  become  very  numerous;  that 
their  feelings  and  policy  were  at  variance  with  strict  Presbyteria! 
order;  that,  in  many  instances,  doctrines  were  held  which  are 
inconsistent  with  our  standards;  and  that,  claiming  a  right  from 
the  provisions  of  the  plan,  to  be  represented  in  the  General  As- 
sembly, they  had  well  nigh  obtained  an  ascendancy  in  that  body, 
and  were  rapidly  bringing  about  a  revolution  in  the  church." 

DISORDER. 

The  following  record  will  exhibit  the  manner  in  which  the  three 
ejected  Synods,  Utica,  Geneva,  and  Genesee,  were  originally  con- 
stituted, and  the  materials  out  of  which  they  were  made.  A 
minute  detail  of  this  process,  however  interesting,  would  be  tedious 


OLD    SCHOOL   VINDICATED.  51 

and  exceed  our  limits,  as  it  would  require  a  transcript  of  nearly 
the  whole  of  D\\  Wood's  pamphlet,  the  Western  Memorial  and 
other  documents.  We  shall  restrict  ourselves  to  a  few  particular 
instances  of  disorder,  and  a  statistical  summary  of  the  whole. 

Synod  of  Utica. 

The  Synod  of  Utica  was  constituted  in  1829,  by  a  division  of 
the  Synod  of  Albany,  and  contains  five  Presbyteries,  Oneida, 
Watertown,  Otsego,  St.  Lawrence,  and  Oswego.  Some  of  these 
have  changed  names  since  the  Synodical  organization.  That  we 
may  form  some  idea  of  the  rapid  and  incessant  changes  occurring 
in  these  new  settlements,  take  a  brief  sketch  of  the  Presbytery  of 
Oneida,  formed  by  the  General  Assembly  of  1802,  out  ot"  the 
Presbytery  of  Albany,  and  consisting  then  of  six  ministers.  In 
1803,  they  reported  seventeen  churches,  eight  of  which  were 
probably  Presbyterian,  In  1805,  they  reported  twenty  churches, 
two  of  which  were  Congregational,  received  on  the  Plan  of  1801. 
The  next  year,  they  reported  only  eight  churches,  the  others  hav- 
ing been  detached  to  form  the  Presbytery  of  Geneva.  One  ot 
the  eight  is  Congregational.  From  this  time,  there  was  a  gradual 
increase  till  1810,  when  the  Presbytery  was  again  divided,  and  ?. 
new  one  formed  by  the  name  of  St.  Lawrence  (now  Watertown.) 
But  their  loss  here  was  much  more  than  made  up  in  1819,  by  the 
reception  of  twelve  ministers  and  nine  congregations,  all  Congre- 
gational, and  from  Congregational  associations. 

The  same  year  (1819,)  this  Presbytery  was  again  divided,  and 
a  new  one  constituted,  by  the  name  of  Otsego.  During  the  three 
years  following,  they  received  nine  Congregational  Churches, 
which  restored  their  number  at  the  expense  of  their  purity.  In 
the  year  1822,  another  division  took  place,  and  a  new  Presbyterv 
arose  out  of  the  confusion,  by  the  name  of  Oswego.  In  this  pro- 
portion, and  subject  to  similar  fluctuations,  they  have  gone  on  to 
the  present  time.  This  is  a  faint  sample  of  the  Presbyterianism, 
in  organization  and  in  operation,  which  prevails  in  the  Synod  ot 
Uiica.  We  suppose  the  reader  will  be  sufficiently  instructed, 
after  inspecting  the  statistical  table,  to  dismiss  this  district  from 
farther  review. 


Presbyteries. 

Churches. 

Pre; 

ibyterian. 

Coi 

Qgregational 

Oneida, 

40 

27 

13 

Watertown, 

23 

Otsego, 

16 

8 

8 

St.  Lawrence, 

11 

Oswego, 

25 

8 

17 

Total  as  far  as  known,  115  43 

(See  Dr.  Wood's  pamphlet.) 


52  OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED. 

Synod  of  Geneva. 

The  Synod  of  Geneva  was  constituted  by  a  division  of  the 
Synod  of  Albany,  in  1812.  It  then  consisted  of  three  Presbyteries, 
Geneva,  Cayuga,  and  Onondagia,  to  which  the  following  have 
since  been  added :  Batli,  Cortland,  Chenango,  Tioga,  Delaware 
and  Chemung.  7^he  Presbytery  of  Geneva  was  formed  from  a 
part  of  the  Presbytery  of  Oneida,  in  1805,  and  consisted  of  four 
ministers.  After  many  changes  and  much  increase,  in  1814  they 
reported  thirty-one  churches,  five  of  which,  at  least,  were  Con- 
gregational. A  report  of  1811  shows  that  the  Presbytery  of 
Cayuga  had  fifteen  congregations,  and  the  Presbytery  of  Onon- 
daga thirteen.  Within  the  eight  following  years,  these  Presby- 
teries, taken  together,  had  more  than  doubled.  Cayuga  reported, 
in  1819,  twenty-eight  congregations;  Onondaga  twenty-nine. 
Their  increase  in  number  v/as  owing  to  the  dissolution  of  the  On- 
ondaga Association,  the  ministers  and  churches  belonging  to 
which  joined  these  two  Presbyteries.  But  while  it  augmented 
their  numbers,  it  increased  their  unsoundness  in  full  proportion, 
for  they  were  all  Congregational.  The  Presbytery  of  Cortland 
was  organized  from  the  Presbytery  of  Onondaga,  in  1825.  In 
their  first  report,  1827,  they  had  fourteen  churches,  seven  Con- 
gregational, and  a  large  portion  of  the  others  most  probably  of 
the  same  character.  "See  minutes  of  the  Assembly  for  1814-1818 
-1825,  from  which  it  will  appear  that  nearly  all  these  churches  had 
their  origin  in  the  Middle  Association,  or  bear  other  marks  of  Con- 
gregationalism. The  Presbytery  of  Tioga  was  formed  from  the 
Presbytery  of  Cayuga,  in  1829.  In  the  following  year  they  reported 
fourteen  churches,  five  of  which  were  Congregational ;  and  it  may 
be  inferred  from  the  character  of  the  Presbytery  out  of  which  it 
was  formed,  that  the  remaining  number  were  of  this  description. 

The  Presbytery  of  Delaware  was  formed  from  Chenango  in 
1831,  and  consisted,  according  to  their  first  report,. of  fourteen 
churches,  nearly  all  of  which  were  undoubtedly  Congregational. 

The  character  of  the  Synod  of  Geneva  may  be  fairly  presented 
in  the  following  tabular  view : 


Presbyteries.              Churches. 

Presbyterian. 

Congrea;ational. 

Geneva,  ■                     39' 

38 

1 

Cayuga,                        31 

Onondaga,.                   24 

Bath.                              19 

IT 

2 

Cortland,                       15 

8 

7 

Chenango,                    19 

a 

14 

Tioga,                          18 

9 

9 

Delaware,                    19 

10 

9 

Chemung,                   22 

22 

Total  as  far  as  known>.  20G 

109 

ii 

OLD   SCHOOL    VINDICATED.  53 

Synod  of  Genesee. 

This  Synod  was  constituted  in  1821,  by  a  division  of  the  Synod 
-of  Geneva,  and  consisted  of  four  Presbyteries,  Niagara,  Genesee, 
Hochesler,  and  Ontario,  to  which  Buffalo  and  Angelica  have  since 
been  added.  In  this  Synod,  as  in  all  the  others,  great  changes 
have  taken  place ;  new  Presbyteries  have  been  formed,  divisions 
and  detachments  ordered. 

The  Presbytery  of  Buffalo  was  constituted  from  the  Presbytery 
of  Niagara,  in  1822-3,  and  was  composed  principally  of  Congre- 
gational Churches.  In  1831,  they  reported  thirty-four  churches, 
at  which  time  there  were  not  more  than  six  or  eight  Presbyterian 
Churches  in  the  Presbytery.  At  present  (1837,)  there  are  about 
twelve  Presbyterian  and  eight  Congregational.  If  the  ratio  of 
these  should  prove  the  same  as  that  of  tlie  others,  there  are  seven- 
teen Presbyterian  and  twenty-six  Congregational.  The  following 
is  a  summary  of  the  whole: 


Presbyteries. 

Churches. 

Presbyterian. 

Congregational 

Niagara, 

16 

12 

4 

Genesee, 

20 

20 

6 

Rochester, 

29 

24 

5 

Ontario, 

34 

18 

6 

Buffalo, 

43 

17 

26 

Angelica, 

18 

12 

6 

156  103  53 

This  preponderance  of  Presbyterial  numbers  over  Congrega- 
tional, Dr.  Wood  writes,  is  rather  nominal  than  real.  In  Niagara, 
Rochester,  and  Genesee  Presbyteries,  there  exist  many  dissatis- 
factions among  the  people,  with  regard  to  their  ecclesiastical  con- 
nexion, which  threaten,  with  speed  and  certainty,  to  increase 
Congregational  extension  and  influence. 

Synod  of  the  Western  Reserve. 
The  origin  of  that  Synod,  as  published  in  the  Ohio  Observer, 
is  as  follows;  The  Presbytery  of  Grand  River,  agreeably  to  the 
order  of  the  Synod  of  Pittsburgh,  was  oi'ganized  in  the  autumn  of 
1814.  This  Presbytery,  and  the  Presbyteries  of  Portage  and 
Huron,  which  were  organized  soon  after,  drew  up  articles  adapted 
to  their  circumstances,  and  to  carry  out  the  Plan  of  Union  of 
1801.  These  Congregatiortalists,  for  so  they  were  without  ex- 
ception, having  been  early  taught  the  Westminster  Assembly's 
Shorter  Catechism,  which  was  prevalent  in  New  England  among 
iheir  fathers,  were  inclined  to  the  Calvinistic  system,  and  found 
but  little  difficulty  in  agreeing  to  approve  the  Confession  of  Faith 
•and  discipline  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  in  the  United  States  of 
America;  but  in  their  constitution,  they  incorporate  particulars 


54  OLD    SCHOOL   VINDICATED. 

designed  to  carry  out  the  Plan  of  Union,  to  which  allusion  is  here 
so  often  made.  The  leading  and  fatal  feature  of  their  plan  was, 
that  their  ministers  and  churches  may  adopt  either  the  Congrega- 
lional  or  Presbyterian  mode  of  government  and  discipline,  and 
that  this  article  or  provision  shall  be  of  perpetual  obligation.  The 
ministers  and  people  really  seemed  to  believe  that  they  were  not 
only  permitted,  but  bound  to  establish  this  point,  and  pledge  them- 
selves mutually  to  each  other  to  maintain  and  observe  it.  The 
8ynod  of  Pittsburgh,  at  the  period  of  receiving  records,  as  a  mat- 
ter of  courtesy  and  expediency,  in  dealing  with  those  new  settle- 
ments, not  only  connived  at  this  unconstitutional  excrescence,  but 
actually  approved  it.  Thus  did  the  Synod  of  Pittsburgh,  in  1815, 
ratify  the  mischievous  Plan  adopted  by  the  General  Assembly  in 
1801.  In  1819,  the  records  of  the  Presbytery  of  Portage,  and 
1824,  the  records  of  the  Presbytery  of  Huron,  each  containing 
the  same  features,  passed  through  the  same  process,  and  received 
the  same  sanction.  By  the  Assembly  of  1825,  a  new  Synod  was 
formed  out  of  the  Synod  of  Pittsburgh,  to  consist  of  the  three 
]*resbyteries  situated  chiefly  in  New  Connecticut,  Grand  River, 
J'ortage,  and  Huron,  which  was  to  be  called  the  Synod  of  West- 
ern Reserve.  It  was  accordingly  organized  at  Hudson,  Septem- 
ber 27,  1825. 

There  are  at  present  in  this  Synod,  according  to  statements 
made  at  the  Auburn  Convention,  thirty-one  Presbyterian  Churches. 
At  the  same  time,  a  member  of  the  Presbytery  of  Grand  River 
expressed  a  doubt  whether  there  is  a  single  Presbyterian  Church 
in  that  Presbytery.  It  was  stated,  on  the  floor  of  the  last  General 
Assembly,  by  members  of  that  Synod,  that  Trumbull  Presbytery 
and  Medina,  each  contained  but  one  Presbyterian  Church.  The 
feelings  of  the  people  are  decidedly  in  favor  of  Congregationalisni. 
They  avow  it,  and  manifest  it  without  reserve.  After  the  meet- 
ing of  the  General  Assembly  of  1835,  a  plan  was  drawn  up  by 
several  ministers,  to  change  the  order  of  the  church,  and  a  con- 
vention was  called  to  execute  the  plan,  but,  through  the  ivjluence 
of  Dr.  Beecher  and  others,  this  was  deferred.  In  the  fall  of  1836, 
another  convention  was  called  for  the  same  purpose,  and  an  as- 
sociation was  formed.  This  measure  was  opposed  by  several 
ministers  present.  One  of  them,  to  justify  his  opposition,  alleged, 
that  if  they  would  put  it  off  another  year,  the  New  School  would 
have  the  majority  in  the  General  Assembly,  in  which  case  the 
Old  School  would  probably  secede,  and  then  they  would  have  the 
ground.  This  minister  was  a  member  of  the  Auburn  Convention, 
and  advocated  sending  up  commissioners  to  the  General  Assem- 
bly, "  to  fight  every  inch  of  ground."  This  is  not  the  first  indica- 
tion of  their  revolutionary  designs. 

It  is  too  prolix  to  attempt  a  full  development  of  Congregation- 


OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED.  §5 

aiism  in  this  manner.  Before  we  present  the  tabular  statenaent 
of  this  Synod,  the  reader  will  pernnit  us  to  insert  one  of  the  de- 
ceptive artifices  employed  by  the  advocates  of  the  Congregation- 
alisls,  to  forward  their  secret  and  hostile  plans  against  the  Pres- 
byterian Church.  After  the  Assembly  had  passed  a  resolution 
refusing  to  receive  committee-men  as  commissioners,  the  Presby- 
tery of  Grand"  River,  in  order  to  obtain  jjlace  in  the  Assembly  for 
a  layman  whose  seat  would  not  be  disputed,  appointed  a  man 
who  had  been  a  ruling  elder  in  the  state  of  New  York,  though  he 
was  then  at  the  time  of  his  appointment,  a  member  of  a  Congre- 
gational Church  in  Ohio.  Thus  the  New  School  party,  operating 
by  all  manner  of  means,  encouraged  themselves  in  their  un- 
righteous work,  and  were  frequently  heard  to  say,  "  that  they 
are  reforming  the  Presbyterian  Church,  working  out  the  old 
leaven,  &c.,  and  that  in  a  few  years  more  they  will  succeed." 


Presbyteries. 

Churches. 

Presbyterian. 

Congregational. 

Grand  River, 

35 

2 

33 

Portage, 

24 

3 

21 

Huron, 

25 

15 

10 

JMaumee, 

8 

2 

6 

Trumbull, 

18 

2 

16 

Lorain, 

12 

2 

10 

Cleveland, 

10 

4 

6 

Medina, 

13 

2 

11 

Total,  145  32  113 

It  has  been  said  that  the  modification  of  the  Plan  of  1801,  by 
the  Synod  of  Albany,  in  her  act  of  1808,  warranted  the  Northern 
Association  to  claim  a  connexion  with  the  Presbyterian  Church. 
But  in  reply  to  this  assertion,  nothing  more  is  necessary,  than  to 
say  that  the  act  of  the  Synod  of  Albany,  1808,  was  as  unconsti- 
tutional and  irregular  as  the  Assembly's  act  of  1801. 

To  give  a  bird's-eye  glance  at  the  irregular  additions  and  en- 
croachments here  recited,  as  prevalent  in  the  four  exscinded  Sy- 
nods, let  us  exhibit  a  summary  of  their  statistics: 

Presbyterian  Congregations,  287 ;  Congregational,  246. 

Here  it  appears  that  the  two  contending  parties  are  very  nearlv 
equally  balanced.  The  intruders  into  the  church  under  the  alien- 
ating influence  of  Congregational  sympathy,  exerting  all  their 
skill  and  power  to  acquire  complete  ascendancy  in  the  four  Sy- 
nods, and  even  in  the  General  Assembly.  The  uncontaminated 
'  portion  of  these  Synods  make  a  reasonable  but  vain  resistance  to 
these  anti-Presbyterian  schemes  and  measures. 

The  facts  here  presented  prove  that  a  large  proportion  of  those 
reported  as  Presbyterian,  are  chiefly  Congregational.  They  have 
just  left  the  Church  of  their  fathers;  some  are  anxious  to  i^turn 


56  OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED. 

10  it;  others  are  actively  engaged  in  laying  schemes  to  get  back; 
some  are  held  in  their  Presbyterian  connexion  by  the  hope  of 
making  larger  conquests  among  ihem,  if  they  remain  ;  others  hang 
on,  determined,  as  they  say,  "to  fight  every  inch  of  ground,"  in 
the  anticipation  of  a  complete  triumph.  This  is  the  fruit  of  the 
Plan  of  Union  of  1801.  This  picture  drawn  from  real  life,  re- 
flects somewhat  the  real  ciiaracter  of  this  great  and  extensive 
district  of  Christ's  earthly  kingdom.  At  this  stage,  who  can  tel! 
what  is  to  be  the  result  of  this  mixed,  morbid,  semi-revoluiionary 
ecclesiastical  exhibition?  Behold  the  changes  daily  occurring. 
With  what  facility  and  despatch  do  they  emigrate,  they  march, 
they  countermarch,  they  change  name,  church  relations  and  ties 
Hy  asunder,  pastors  and  people  are  ever  on  the  wing.  Violations 
(see  p.  42,)  of  church  order,  infractions,  or  perfect  disregard  of 
principles  and  rules  most  plain,  most  positive,  most  essential,  most 
.solemnly  assumed,  are  unscrupulously  set  at  nought.  What  a 
beautiful  picture  this  scene  presents!  What  delightful  Christian 
harmony,  purity,  and  comfort !  Such  is  the  result  of  attempting 
10  make  Congregational  and  Presbyterian  men  live  together  in 
one  church,  under  such  a  Plan  of  Union  as  that  of  1801. 


CHAPTER    VIII. 

Doctrinal  errors  stated  as  existing  in  the  exscinded  Synods — The  facts  here 
presented,  from  Dr.  Wood's  pamphlet — Synod  of  Utica — Synod  of  Ge- 
neva— Synod  of  Genesee — Of  Western  Reserve. 

These  errors  are  introduced  as  specimens  of  the  false  theology 
actually  in  circulation  through  the  congregations  of  the  exscinded 
Synods. 

For  the  truth  of  these  statements  we  shall  appeal  again  to  the 
faithful  witness,  the  pamphlet  of  Dr.  James  Wood,  freely  used 
upon  another  topic  preceding. 

We  begin  with  the  Synod  of  Utica,  observing  simply  that  the 
facts  here  presented  refer  to  the  third  ground  of  our  vindication. 
,  In  the  words  of  Dr.  Wood,  "  As  we  do  not  wish  to  incur  the 
charge  of  circulating  vague  reports,  we  shall  specify  some  par- 
ticulars. There  is  probably  a  majority,  in  all  these  bodies,  who 
are  opposed  to  those  extreme  views  in  doctrine.  But  their  ex- 
istence among  them  shows  that  there  is  cause  for  alarm  ;  and 
the  length  of  time  during  which  they  have  prevailed  affords  proof 
of  culpable  lenity,  on  the  part  of  those  who  disapprove  of  them, 


OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED.  57 

in  not  bringing  their  abettors  (except  in  a  few  instances,)  under 
ecclesiastical  censure.*' 

•'During  my  excursion  I  had  an  interview  with  a  layman  of 
some  intelligence  and  standing  in  society,  who,  until  a  short  time 
past,  has  been  a  member  for  ten  or  twelve  years  of  one  of  the 
churches  in  Oneida  Presbytery,  ijut  is  now  connected  with  a 
church  in  the  Presbytery  of  Oswego.  He  said  he  believed  Adan; 
sinned  because  God  could  not  prevent  him  without  altering 
his  plan  of  government.  I  replied,  if  God  could  not  prevent  Adam 
iVom  falling,  can  he  prevent  Christians  from  falling?  He  an- 
swered, no;  if  they  resolve  not  to  be  influenced  by  the  motive!'- 
which  he  presents  to  encourage  them  to  persevere,  1  believe  Chris- 
tians may  all  fall  away.  He  said,  he  did  not  believe  in  the  im- 
putation of  Adam's  sin,  or  that  we  were  born  sinners,  but  that 
when  we  are  born  we  are  destitute  of  moral  character.  In  re- 
gard to  conversion,  he  said,  there  are  some  things  which  God 
cannot  do  for  the  sinner  ;  they  are  the  sinner's  own  acts  andnot 
God's.  He  commands  the  sinner  to  repent  and  make  to  himself 
a  new  heart,  and  he  can  do  it  if  he  loill.  He  was  told  he  can 
do  it  by  the  assistance  of  God's  spirit.  He  replied,  I  will  not 
-say  this,  though  1  admit  the  Holy  Spirit  has  an  agency  in  the 
conversion  of  the  sinner.  He  was  asked,  what  kind  of  agency  ? 
Just  such  agency,  said  he,  as  I  should  exert  over  you  in  persuad- 
ing you  to  go  to  Rome.  I  observed  to  him,  you  might  fail  in 
persuading  me  to  go  to  Rome.  So  may  God  fail,  said  he,  of 
the  conversion  of  the  sinner.  God  is  as  dependent  upon  the  sin- 
ner in  his  conversion,  as  the  sinner  is  upon  God.  The  moment 
in  which  a  sinner  is  converted,  he  said,  the  sinner  is  holy  ;  he  is 
right;  he  is  just  as  God  requires  him  to  be;  he  loves  God  with 
all  the  heart,  and  soul,  and  strength,  and  mind,  and  he  might  con- 
tinue in  this  state  if  he  would,  but  he  yields  to  temptation  and  so 
falls  into  sin.  I  asked  him  if  the  church,  to  which  he  formerly 
belonged,  held  as  he  did.  He  answered,  yes.  And  does  the  min- 
ister of  that  church  believe  and  preach  so  ?  He  replied,  yes.  I 
have  had  long  conversations  with  him,  and  have  met  with  nobody 
that  so  nearly  accords  with  my  sentiments  as  he  does,  excejit 
brother . 

"Perfectionism  exists  to  some  extent  in  several  churches  in  the 
Oswego  Presbylery.  In  one  of  them  it  prevails  to  such  a  de- 
gree lliat  their  pastor,  after  endeavoring  in  vain  for  several  months 
to  resist  the  current,  has  given  up  in  discouragement,  and  re- 
moved to  another  congregation.  It  is  not  countenanced  by  tlie 
ministers,  but  is  regarded  with  some  favor  by  a  considerabk? 
number  of  the  people.  Some  of  the  ministers,  hov^'cver,  though 
opposed  to  perfectionism,  embrace  the  New  Haven  theology.  In 
several  of  them,  we  could  specify  individuals  who  are  known  to 


58  OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED. 

be  favorable  to  that  system.  And  in  regard  to  others,  we  have 
authority  for  saying,  that  the  views  of  Dr.  Taylor  are  nnore  or 
less  prevalent. 

"In  the  spring  of  1833,  I  became  acquainted  with  a  licentiate 
of  a  Congregational  Association,  who  was  desirous  of  entering 
the  Presbyterian  Church.  After  conversing  with  him  for  an 
liour,  I  told  him  frankly,  but  kindly,  that  I  hoped  he  never  would 
seek  admission  into  our  church ;  that,  in  my  opinion,  a  man  enter- 
taining his  views,  could  not,  with  propriety,  subscribe  our  stand- 
ards. Shortly  after,  he  was  ordained  by  an  association,  and  set- 
tled over  a  church  connected  with  us,  on  the  accommodation 
|>lan.  in  the  Presbytery  of  Watertown.  He  is  now  a  member  of 
the  Presbytery  of  Oneida.  Some  time  after,  he  wrote  a  letter  to 
a  friend,  in  part  as  follows:  'For  my  part,  I  am  awfully  preju- 
diced against  the  Old  School  divinity.  1  cannot  invite  a  man  to 
preach  for  me  whose  doctrines  are  so  utterly  repugnant  to  the 
word  of  God.  I  do  not  here  speak  of  Mr.  Wood  at  all,  but  of  a 
certain  class  of  men,  such  as  for  instance,  the  individuals  near 
me.  Dr.  Sprague  of  Albany,  I  mean,  and  old  Dr.  Green,  of 
Philadelphia,  and  Dr.  Griflin,  and  Miller,  and  Alexander,  &c., 
&c.  Have  you  seen  Dr.  Sprague's  Book  on  Revivals?  O!  I  am 
afraid  that  man  will  ruin  souls  in  hell  by  that  pernicious  book.  I 
want  you  candidly  to  answer  the  following  questions.  Do  you 
believe  infants  have  a  moral  character?  Are  we  to  be  accounta- 
ble for  the  moral  acts  of  our  first  parents?  What  do  you  think  of 
the  New  Haven  theology  ?  Do  you  acquiesce  in  Dr.  Taylor's  no- 
tions? Do  you  consider  agreeable  with  the  scriptures?  His  di- 
vinity is  spreading  very  widely.'  In  Oneida  Presbytery,  a  major- 
ity of  ministers  aie  disposed  to  do  all  they  can  to  correct  the 
errors  of  the  past."    Dr.  Wood's  Pamphlet,  pp.  12,  13,  14. 

Synod  of  Geneva. 

.  Writing  in  regard  to  some  of  the  Presbyteries,  Dr.  Wood  re- 
marks :  "  To  show  the  jealousy  which  they  feel  towards  Presby- 
terianism,"  he  said,  "the  pastor  of  one  of  the  churches  proposed, 
as  the  first  article  of  a  Confession  of  Faith  for  that  church,  that 
they  adopt  the  Confession  of  Faith  of  the  Presbyterian  Church, 
(IS  containing  the  system  of  doctrines  taught  in  the  sacred  scrip- 
tures; but  it  was  rejected,  not  because  the  church  did  not  ap- 
prove of  our  Confession  of  Faith,  but  because  they  regarded  it  as 
the  first  step  towards  endeavoring  to  make  them  Presbyterians. 
A  letter  which  was  first  published  in  the  Hartford  Christian 
Watchman,  soon  after  the  meeting  of  the  last  Assembly,  and 
which  is  understood  to  have  been  written  by  a  member  of  the 
Cortland  Presbytery,  contains  the  following:  'I  declared  more 
than  once  before  the  Assembly,  that  the  errors  against  which  the 


OLD   SCHOOL   VINDICATED.  59 

Convention  (1887)  testified,  do  exist.  In  my  views  of  the  exist- 
ence of  those  errors,  and  of  the  duly  of  condemning  them,  I  pre- 
sume at  least  one  half  of  the  delegation  from  the  interior  of  New- 
York,  coincide.'  '  In  a  few  churches,  in  several  of  the  Presbyte- 
ries, perfectionism  has  prevailed  to  a  greater  or  less  extent.  In 
1833,  a  very  laudable  zeal  was  manifested  in  endeavouring  to 
prevent  the  errors  and  extravagancies  of  Mr.  Myrick,  and  ihey 
also  entered  a  complaint  against  him  to  the  Oneida  Presbytery. 
The  Presbyteries  of  Cayuga  and  Onondaga  issued  a  circular 
warning  the  churches  against  him.'  Here  follow  some  things 
concerning  this  Mr.  Myrick,  worthy  of  notice.  1st.  His  entering 
other  congregations,  and  holding  protracted  meetings,  without  the 
consent  of  either  pastor  or  church.  2d.  Irreverent  praying,  such 
as  'God  smite  the  devil,'  'God  smite  the  whited  sepulchres,'  'Je- 
sus Christ  come  down  here  and  attend  to  these  hard  cases,'  ac- 
companied by  loud  groaning,  leaping,  stamping,  smiting  hands 
and  fists,  pounding  on  the  floor,  &c.  3d.  Profane  language,  such 
as  'you  are  black  as  hell,'  'wicked  as  hell,'  'proud  as  hell,'  'damned 
devils,'  'the  devil  is  in  you,'  'hell  hardened.'  4th.  Abusive  treat- 
ment of  professed  christians  and  ministers,  who  did  not  unite  wit'i 
him.  He  called  them  'the  children  of  the  devil,'  'drone  bees  in 
God's  hive,'  '  too  cursed  lazy  to  work,'  '  fattening  on  the  blood  of 
damned  souls.'  5th.  Erroneous  doctrines.  He  says, 'the  Holy 
Ghost  never  operates  on  impenitent  sinners  ;  that  the  sinner  does 
not  need  the  spirit  in  order  to  repent;  that  all  such  professors  as 
have  any  remaining  sin  are  not  born  of  God,  but  are  goin^  to 
hell;  that  real  Christians  do  fall  into  this  impenitent  state  and  go 
to  hell,'  &c.,  and  many  more  similar  delusions.  Gth.  He  de- 
nounces in  strong  terms,  all  creeds,  confessions  of  faith,  commen- 
taries on  the  Bible,  and  systems  of  divinity.  Is  it  not  astonishing 
and  lamentable  that  such  blasphemous  stuff  as  this,  should  be  tol- 
erated within  its  bounds  by  any  Presbytery  ?  This  heretical  mon- 
ster, in  1837,  was  the  editor  of  a  paper,  and  by  that  means,  as 
well  as  by  his  impious  babbling,  was  propagating  his  corrupt  opin- 
ions. With  what  degree  of  success,  it  is  considered  verv  difficult 
to  form  any  correct  opinion."     Wood's  Pamphlet,  pp.  20,  22,  23. 

Synod  of  Genesee. 
•'There  have  been  material  departures  among  many  in  this 
►Synod,  from  the  old  orthodox  times,  and  this  has  been  accom- 
panied, in  some  instances,  by  measures  of  a  very  doubtful  charac- 
ter, and  in  others  by  such  as  were  wild  and  extravagant."  A 
member  of  the  Buflalo  Presbytery  writes  thus:  "  Ministers  and 
churches  in  this  Presbytery  have  become  so  much  disposed  to 
favor  Arminian  doctrines,  and  are  so  fond  of  new  things,  that  it 
is  difficult  to  preach  the  doctrines  of  our  Confession,  or  even  to 


60  OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED. 

use  our  endeavours  to  correct  abuses  and  extravagances  in  mea- 
sures, without  hearing  the  cry  of,  Old  School,  opposed  to  re- 
vivals, &c.  That  Presbytery,  some  time  ago,  adopted  a  set  of 
articles  of  faith,  for  the  use  of  their  churches,  from  which  almost 
everything  distinguishing  is  excluded.  Among  other  points  is 
that  of  infant  baptism;  and  hence,  in  practice,  it  is  left  optional 
with  parents  to  have  their  children  baptized  or  not,  just  as  they 
please.  This  last  article  has  been  erased  from  the  Confes^■io^  of 
several  of  the  churches  in  Genesee  Presbytery  ;  not  by  the  sanc- 
tion of  the  Presbytery,  so  much  as  through  the  influence  of  one 
of  their  members."  "An  intelligent  and  pious  man  told  me,  con- 
cerning a  minister  in  Niagara  Presbytery,  under  whose  preaching 
he  sat  for  several  months,  that  he  heard  him  say  he  did  not  be- 
lieve in  the  imputation  of  Adam's  sin;  and  on  one  occasion,  he 
almost  ridiculed  the  idea  of  the  special  influences  of  the  Holy 
8f)irit."  One  of  the  ministers  in  Genesee  Presbytery,  and  a  part 
of  his  church,  are  perfectionists.  He  believes  it  essential  to  a 
man's  being  a  Christian,  to  be  perfect.  When  a  Christian  sins, 
he  ?m-Christians  hiinself,  and  consequently  a  Christian  remaining 
such  cannot  commit  sin.  A  spice  of  perfectionism  is  found  in 
several  of  the  churches,  which,  though  small,  is  enough  to  embit- 
ter the  comfort  of  their  Christian  brethren. 

In  relation  to  irregularities,  a  member  of  the  Rochester  Pres- 
bytery affirmed  publicly  at  their  meeting,  some  time  last  summer, 
that  there  was  but  one  thing  mentioned  of  this  kind  on  the  floor 
of  the  last  Assembly,  but  what  can  be  proved  to  have  occurred, 
v^ithin  a  short  period  of  time,  in  the  bounds  of  the  Genesee  Synod. 
Another  member  of  the  same  Presbytery,  in  private  conversation, 
corroborated  his  statement,  and  went  still  farther,  by  saying  that 
■v:orse  things  had  occurred  there  than  any  which  had  been  alluded 
to  on  the  floor  of  the  Assembly.  In  some  Presbyteries,  the  people 
are  sounder  than  the  ministers,  of  which  I  had  in  two  or  three 
leases  ample  proof.  Though  ministers  are  set  for  the  defence  of 
the  gospel,  the  people  form  the  sacramental  host  and  will  often 
stand  firn),  even  though  the  standard  bearer  fainteth.  They  are 
the  pillars  of  the  church,  which  will  remain  unshaken,  though  the 
priest  at  the  altar  sliou'd  be  spoiled  through  philosophy  and  vain 
deceit"  pp.  26,  7,  8. 

Synod  of  JVeste}-n  Reserve. 

"  A  fev/  years  aijo,  Congregational  ministers  were  frequently 
received  into  their  Presbyteries,  at  least  into  some  of  them,  with- 
out answering  the  constitutional  que'slions;  but  of  late,  since  the 
practice  was  censured  by  the  General  Assembl}',  the  constitu- 
tional questions  have  generally,  and  perhaps  always,  been  pro- 
j^ounded."     "  A  majority  of  the  ministers  and  of  the  members,  in 


OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED^  Of 

most  of  ih-e  churches,  accord  in  doctrine  and  mcasui'cs  with  Mr. 
Finney,  Tliis  is  inferred,  concerning  the  ministers,  from  the  fact 
lliat  about  two  years  ago,  a  paper  was  signed  by  fifty  ministers, 
or  more,  inviting  Mr.  Finney  to  become  professor  of  theology  in 
the  Western  Reserve  College;  and  concerning  ministers  an(J  peo- 
ple both,  it  may  be  inferred  from  the  fact  that  Mr.  Lucius  Foole 
has  attended  protracted  meetings  pretty  extensively  on  ti)e  Re- 
serve, and  was  generally  approved  l)y  the  n)inisters  anrl  cliurches. 
Mr.  Foote,  it  is  said,  agrees  substantially  with  Mr.  Finney,  but 
goes  farllier  than  the  latter,  in.  some  points,  from  what  is  called 
OI(J  vSchool  Theology." 

The  result  of  this  examination  is,  that  at  least  one  half,  probably 
a  greater  proportion,  of  the  four  disowned  Synods,  are  in  churcii 
government,  Congregational ;  and  in  thec^logical  opinion,  far  re- 
moved from  the  standar(Js  of  the  Presbyterian  (Jhurch. 

Additional    intelligence    f^onnrming  the    preceding   statetvicnts 
mny  be  derived  \'rou\  the  following  article.  No.  4,  of  a  series  pub- 
lished in  the   Presbyterian,  A.  \).  1831,  "On  the  slate  and  pros-  . 
pccts  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,"  viz  : 

"That  heresy  exists  in  the  Presbyterian  Church,  is  manifest. 
But  since  it  is  questioned  by  some,  we  shall  adduce  additional 
evidence.  We  consider  it  t^-omewhat  unaccountaf)le  that  real 
doubts  on  this  subject  should'  remain  in  the  minds  of  any  who 
have  observed,  with  common  penetration  and  candour,  the  con- 
dition of  the  church  for  years  past,  conversed  with  ministers  and 
r.andidates,.  attended  the  judicatories  of  the  church,  looked  into 
the  liistories  of  their  transactions-,  read  the  periodicals,  printed 
sermons,  and  religious  journals  of  tlie  present  day,  studied  the 
characters  of  various  Theological  Seminariec4,  their  Professors, 
and  the  opinions  expressed,  and  correspondence  conducted  by 
thorn.  These  have  been  before  the  puljlic  eye  in  diversified 
fortns,  furnishing  evidence  of  error  so  irresistable,  that  we  had 
supposed  not  even  the  most  obtuse  and  sluv/  of  heart  to  believe, 
could  hesitate. 

"  In  the  history  and  detection  of  heresy,  denial,  concealment, 
and  evasion,  have  always  been  pnpulur  and  perplexing  resorts. 
These  artifices  were  practised,  not  only  by  the  arch-heretics  Arius, 
Pelagius,  Arminius,  and  Socinus,  but  by  all  their  ephemeral  09- 
temporaries,  and  successors  in  error.  We  are  aware,  that  the 
plea  'not  guilty,'  from  the  mouth  of  the  adversary  of  truth,  when 
brought  to  the  bar,  has  had  its  eflect  with  the  American  public, 
and  the  church.  It  has  damped  the  ardour,  and  palsied  the  ac- 
tion of. some  who  profess  to  be  truth-men,  and  produced  tempo- 
rary suspense  in  the  work  of  honest  inquiry.  It  is  painful  to 
think  unfavorably  of  men  professing  religion,  and  placed  as  lights 
in  the  world,  bat  the  honest  \\ouf  has  come,  the  season  of  reaction 


62  OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED. 

has  arrived,  the  mask  must  be  stripped  off,  whatever  deformities 
and  horrors  may  be  exposed.  Careful  investigation  and  calm 
reflection,  have  proved  decisively  that  there  is  no  mistake  in  this 
matter.  Let  the  church  and  the  world  judge  of  the  fact,  from  the 
incidental  and  direct  evidence  produced. 

"The  first  class  of  errors  mentioned  in  the  '  Act  and  Testi- 
mony,' respects  our  relation  to  Adam,  and  asserts,  '  That  we  have 
no  more  to  do  with  the  first  sin  of  Adam,  than  with  the  sins  of 
any  other  parent.'  Barnes'  sermon,  page  5 — 7.  Duffield  on  Re- 
generation, 287 — 393.  With  this,  compare  Confession  of  Faiih, 
chapter  vi,,  section  3.  'They  (our  first  parents,)  being  the  root  of 
all  mankind,  the  guilt  of  this  sin  (i.  e.  eating  the  forbidden  fruit,) 
was  imputed,  and  the  same  death  in  sin,  and  corrupted  nature", 
i-onveyed  to  all  their  posterity.' 

"  The  second  error  recited,  is  the  following:  '  That  there  is  no 
such  thing  as  original  sin  ;  that  infants  come  into  the  world  as 
perfectly  free  from  corruption  of  nature,  as  Adam  was  when  he 
was  created  ;  that,  by  original  sin,  nothing  more  is  meant,  than 
the  fact  that  all  the  posterity  of  Adam,  though  born  entirely  free 
from  moral  defilement,  will  always  begin  to  sin  when  they  begin 
to  exercise  moral  agency,  and  that  this  fact  is  somehow  connected 
with  the  fall  of  Adam.'  Barnes'  sermon,  5 — 7.  Duffield  on  Re- 
generation, 283 — 394.  Dr.  Beecher's  sermon.  National  Preacher. 
Vol.  II.,  p.  12.  See  Confession  of  Faith,  chap,  vi ,  sec.  3,  above, 
also  chap,  vi.,  sec.  2.  *  By  this  sin,  (eating  the  forbidden  fruit.) 
they  (our  first  parents,)  fell  from  their  original  righteousness  and 
irommunion  with  God,  and  so  became  dead  in  sin,  and  wholly  de- 
filed in  all  the  faculties  and  parts  of  soul  and  body.' 

"3,  'That  the  doctrine  of  imputed  sin  and  imputed  righteous- 
ness, is  a  novelty,  and  is  nonsense.'  Barnes'  sermon,  5 — 0.  Duf- 
field on  Regeneration.  Compare  Confession  of  Faith,  chap,  vi., 
sec.  2,  3,  above;  also  chap,  xi.,  sec.  1.  'Those  whom  God  ef- 
fectually calleth,  he  also  freely  justifieth,  not  for  any  thing  wrought 
in  them,  or  done  by  them,  but  for  Christ's  sake  alone;  not  by  im- 
puting faith  itself,  the  act  of  believing,  or  any  other  evangelical 
obedience  to  them,  as  their  righteousness,  but  by  imputing  t!ie 
obedience  and  satisfaction  of  Christ  unto  them.' 

"  4.  '  That  the  impenitent  sinner  is  by  nature,  and  independently 
of  the  aid  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  in  full  possession  of  all  the  powers 
necessary  to  a  compliance  with  the  commands  of  God,  and  that, 
if  he  labored  under  any  kind  of  inability,  natural  or  moral,  which 
he  could  not  remove  himself,  he  would  be  excusable  for  not  com- 
plying with  God's  will.'  Barnes'  sermon,  p.  14.  Bcman's  fourtii 
sermon,  p.  119 — 120.  Duffield  on  Regeneration.  Dr.  Coxe's 
sermon.  Beecher's  sermon  on  Dependance  and  Free  Agency,  p. 
9 — 37.     See  Confession  of  Faith,  odiap.  vi.,  sec.  4.     '  From  this 


OLD    SCHOOL   VINDICATED,  63 

original  corruption,  whereby  we  are  utterly  indisposed,  disabled, 
and  made  opposite  to  all  good,  and  wholly  inclined  to  all  evil,  do 
proceed  all  actual  transgressions.'  Also  chap,  ix.,  sec.  3.  •  Man 
by  his  fall  into  a  state  of  sin,  hath  wholly  lost  all  ability  of  will  to 
any  spiritual  good  accompanying  salvation,  so  as  a  natural  man 
being  altogether  averse  to  that  which  is  good,  and  dead  in  sin,  is 
not  able,  by  his  own  strength,  to  convert  himself,  or  to  prepare 
himself  thereunto.' 

"5.  'That  man's  regeneration  is  his  own  act;  that  it  consists 
merely  in  the  change  of  our  governing  purpose,  which  change. 
we  must  of  ourselves  produce.'  Duffield  on  Regeneration,  200 — 
•231.  See  Confession  of  Faith,  chap,  x.,  sec.  1.  'Taking  away 
their  heart  of  stone,  and  giving  unto  them  a  heart  of  flesh,  by  his 
Almiiihty  power,  determining  them  unto  that  which  is  good.' 
Also,  sec.  2.  'Not  from  anything  at  all  forseen  in  man;  iclio  u" 
altogether  passive  therein,  until  being  quickened  and  renewed  by 
the  Holy  Spirit,  he  is  thereby  enabled  to  answer  this  call.' 

"G.  '  That  God  cannot  exert  such  an  influence  on  the  minds  of 
men,  as  to  make  it  certain  that  they  will  choose  and  act  in  a  par- 
ticular manner,  without  destroying  their  moral  agency;  and  that 
in  a  moral  system.  Cod  could  not  prevent  the  existence  of  sin, 
however  much  he  might  desire  it.' 

"  This  doctrine  is  extensively  circulated  through  the  Christian 
Spectator,  a  work  emanating  from  the  Theological  School  at  New 
Haven  ;  a  school  in  which  a  number  of  young  men  have  been 
educated,  who  are  now  ministers  in  our  church,  and  who,  .as 
there  is  every  reason  to  believe,  maintain  the  doctrines  of  their 
teachers.  The  speculation  in  itself  is  rash,  unauthorized  and  pre- 
sumptuous, and  as  related  to  the  system  of  which  it  forms  a  part, 
is  dangerous.  It  decides  upon  the  extent  of  the  Divine  power,  with- 
out any  warrant  from  the  word  of  God,  and  is  thus  opposed  to 
the  spirit  of  our  standards. 

"7.  'That  Christ's  sufferings  were  not  truly  and  properly  vica- 
rious.'— Beman's  sermons,  &c.  Confession  of  Faith,  chap,  viii., 
sec.  5.  '  The  Lord  Jesus  by  his  perfect  obedience  and  sacrihct; 
of  himself,  which  he,  through  the  Eternal  Spirit,  once  ottered  up 
unto  God,  hath  fully  satisfied  the  justice  of  his  Father,  and  pur- 
chased not  only  reconciliation,  but  an  everlasting  inheritance  in 
the  kingdom  of  heaven,  for  all  those  whom  the  Father  hath  given 
unto  him.'  Sec.  8.'  Making  intercession  for  them.'  Chap,  xi., 
sec.  3.  '  Christ  by  his  obedience  and  death,  did  fully  discharge 
the  debt  of  all  those  that  are  thus  justified,  and  did  make  a  pro- 
per, real  and  full  satisfaction  to  his  Father's  justice,  in  their  be- 
half.' Sec.  4.  '  Christ  did  in  the  fullness  of  time  die  for  their 
sins.' 

"  A  careful  consideration  of  this  statement  will  satisfy  any  un- 


01  OLD   SCHOOL    VINDICATED* 

I 

I)rejudiced  maa^  that  the  opinions  referred  to  in  the  '  Act  and' 
Testimony,'  are  held  by  ministers  in  the  Presbyterian  church,  and 
that  they  are  contrary  to  the  Confession  of  Faith.  It  would  be  a 
useless  expenditure  of  time,  to  show  that  ihey  are  as  palpably  at 
war  with  the  Bible.  The  extent  to  which  they  are  held,  is  to  be 
learned  more  from  the  acknowledgments  and  pulpit  instructions- 
of  those  who  maintain  them,  than  from  their  published  writings, 
as  few  comparatively  commit  their  thoughts  to  the  press.  To 
ascertain  the  extent  to  which  they  have  spread,,  is  the  ultimate 
object  proposed  by  the  Act  aad  Testimony.  However  novel 
these  errors  may  appear  to  many  in  the  present  day,  to  those  ac- 
quainted with  the  history  of  the  Christian  church,  they  are  not 
new.  On  examination,  they  V7\\\  be  found  to  be  only  ancient 
forms  of  error,  revived  and  new  moddelled.  There  is  probably 
no  surer  method  of  impressing  the  public  mind  with  a  sense  ol 
the  reality  and  pernicious  tendsncy  of  these  opinions,  than  that 
of  showing  their  identity,  with  glaring  and  destructive  heresies, 
which  at  various  periods  have  invaded  the  church. 

"Earlv  in  the  tifih  century,  ihe  Pelagians  held  the  following 
sentiments:  '  That  there  is  no  such  thing  as  original  sin — Thai 
Adam's  guilt  did  not  descend  to  his  posterity — That  all  mankind 
are  born  in  the  same  state  of  perfection  with  their  great  primogeni- 
tor— That  man  may,  by  the  nati^ve  exertion  of  his  own  faculties,  be 
inclined  to  what  is  good,  and  able  to  perform  it,,  without  the  di- 
rect assistance  of  divine  grace,  and  that  men  may  ari?ive  to  such- 
;i  pitch  of  holincs,  as  to  be  no  more  suliject  to  the  dominion  of 
.^in/ — Nesbit's  Church  History,  Edinburg,  8vo..  p.  80.  In  confir- 
mation of  this,  for  the  satisfaction  of  those  who  may  not  find  it 
convenient  to  refer  to  original  authorities,  we  add  the  testimony 
lof  Mosheim,  Church  History,  2  vol.  8vo.  p..  84.  '  These  monks, 
(Pelagius  and  his  disciple  Cosleslius,)  looked  upon  the  doctrines- 
which  were  commonly  received,  concerning  the  original  corrup- 
lion  of  human  nature,  and  the  necessity  of  divine  grace,,  to  en- 
lighten the  understanding  and  purify  ihe  heart,  as  prejudicial  to 
the  progress  of  holiness  and  virtue,  and  tending  to  lull  mankind 
into  a  presumptuous  and  fatal  security.  They  mai^itained,  that 
these  doctrines  were  as  false  as  they  v/ere  pernicious,. that  the 
>ins  of  our  first  parents  were  imputed  to  them  alone,  and  not  to 
rheir  posterity;,  that  we  derive  no  corruption  from  their  fall,  but 
arc  born  as  pure  and  unspotted  as  Adam  came  oijt  of  the  form- 
inp-  hand  of  his  Creator;  that  mankind,  therefore,  are  capable  of 
repentance  and  amendment,  and  of  arriving  to  the  highest  de-^ 
crrees  of  piety  and  virtue,  by  the  use  of  their  natural  faculties  and 
powers.  That  indeed  external  grace  is  necessary  to  excite  their 
'Mideavours,  but  that  they  have  no  need  of  internal  succours  (A 
the  Divine  Spirit.'     These  anti-script,ural  motives  were  propnga- 


OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED.  65 

ted  in  Rome,  in  Sicily,  in  Africa,  and  Palestine,  deeply  afflicting 
the  church  wherever  they  went.  At  last  they  were  arrested  in 
iheir  course,  by  the  counsel  of  Ephesus,  repressed  by  several 
successive  councils,  and  denounced  by  the  authority  of  Imperial 
edicts. 

••  The  most  prominent  of  these  errors  were  presented  afresh  by 
■lie  Arminians  in  the  sixteentii  century,  under  a  very  imposing 
garb.  And  now  our  hitherto  pure  and  peaceful  church,  is  writh- 
ing under  a  similar  calamitous  visitation.  How  striking  the  co- 
incidence between  New  School  divinity,  and  the  ancient  heresies, 
which  we  see  Christian  orators  and  philosophers,  evangelic  coun- 
cils and  emperors,  conspiring  with  holy  zeal  to  detect  and  sup- 
press!  And  are  these  errors  less  appalling  now  than  then?  Is 
:!ie  church  less  precious?  Have  the  souls  of  men  dwindled  into 
I'vphers?  Heaven  and  hell  become  a  chimera,  that  they  may 
be  so  lightly  sported  with  ? — that  the  stupendous  scheme  of  sal- 
vation which  God  revealed — which  Christ  achieved — which  an- 
Lrels  sang — which  millions  of  sanctified  ones  have  gone  to  inherit, 
i^liould  be  so  sedulously,  so  tranquilly,  almost  without  observation, 
metamorphosed  into  an  ignoble,  dark,  and  wretched  device  ot 
iiuman  caprice,  and  passion,  and  power  ! 

••  What  the  learned  and  pious  historian  Joseph  Milner  declares 
of  Pelagianism  in  the  fit'ih  century,  we  affirm  of  it  in  the  nineteenth  : 
'That  it  seems  little  more  than  a  revival  of  deism,  or  what  is 
commonly  called  natural  religion!'  Eccl.  Hist.  vol.  2,  p.  361. 
And  shall  the  church  still  slumber — the  watchmen  on  the  walls 
of  Zion  fold  their  arms  and  say  peace,  peace !  Let  the  inlelli- 
;ient  and  serious  carefully  examine  the  nature  and  bearing  of 
ihese  tenets,  and  they  cannot  fail  to  pronounce  them  diametrically 
opposed  both  to  the  letter  and  spirit  of  the  gospel.  If  there  are 
any  doctrines  truly  fundamental  and  absolutely  indispensable  in 
•■>ur  system  of  faith,  they  are  the  very  opposite  to  those  denounced 
i!i  the  '  Act  and  Testimony.' 

•'The  sufficiency  of  Iiuman  reason,  in  matters  of  religion,  is, 
evidently,  tlie  stale  and  untenable  basis  upon  which  this  anti- 
';hrislian  scheme  is  built.  This  was  the  foundation  selected  by 
ancient  heathen  philosophers,  by  primitive  heretics,  and  modern 
rationalists.  In  these  delusive  vagaries  they  all  agree.  That 
man  is  not  inherently  depraved — that  his  powers  of  mind  and 
body  are  adequate  to  all  his  wants  and  duties — that  the  idea  of 
dependence  upon  the  merit  of  another  for  justification,  or  the  en- 
lightening and  renovating  influence  of  God  himself,  for  sanctifi- 
'.-ation,  is  repugnant  to  human  reason,  inconsistent  with  human 
liberty  and  moral  obligation.  Thus  the  whole  plan  of  the  gospel. 
is  inverted  and  outraged.  The  ruined,  wretched  creature  man, 
15  depicted  as  harmless  and  all-sufficient,  buoyed  up  with  delusive 

E 


66  OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED. 

ideas  of  safety,  while  reposing  on  himself,  and  inflated  with  pride 
and  self-trust.  Thus  the  eternal  God  of  wisdom,  sovereignty 
and  grace,  is  called  to  the  bar  of  the  presumptuous,  vain-glorious 
speculator,  robbed  of  his  honour,  and  '  Christ  is  made  light  of.' 

"  These  heretical  notions,  not  only  afluct  the  soundness  of  our 
doctrinal  views,  but  the  moral  purity,  tlie  vital  godliness  of  the 
great  body  of  the  people.  They  are  demoralizing  in  their  influ- 
ence on  the  human  mind.  The  gospel  will  ever  be  lightly  es- 
teemed by  those  who  are  taught  to  believe,  that  they  are  not  ■ 
deeply  depraved  creatures,  *  exceeding  sinful,'  altogether  helpless 
and  in  need  of  divine  succour.  *  The  whole  need  not  a  physi- 
cian, but  they  that  are  sick.'  The  thought,  that  human  faciiliies 
and  powers  are  of  themselves  suflicient  to  arrest  the  progress  of 
sinful  desire  and  action — to  turn  the  heart  to  God — and  produce 
the  important  change  from  sin  to  holiness,  must  necessarily  tend 
to  inspire  indifllsrence  to  the  gospel,  awaken  a  feeling  of  indepen- 
dence on  God,  and  such  an  inflating  self-confidence,  as  will  deeply 
impair  the  force  of  the  sacred,  transforming,  and  endearing  lies 
of  moral  obligation,  and  for  ever  exclude  evangelic  humiliation, 
love  and  truth.  Indeed,  the  whole  scheme  seems  admirably  con- 
trived to  counteract  the  heavenly  design  and  saving  influence  of 
the  gospel  of  Christ. 

"We  ask,  in  the  spirit  of  honest  anxiety,  are  we  prepared  to  re- 
ceive these  noxious  speculations  as  a  substitute  for  the  beloved 
gospel  and  our  excellent  summary — to  teach  them  to  our  chil- 
dren— to  introduce  them  into  our  Sabbath  schools — to  incorpo- 
rate them  in  our  tracts — to  send  them  to  the  destitute  ?  Is  the 
Presbyterian  Church  prepared  to  give  entrance  to  such  princi[)lcs 
into  her  Theological  Seminaries — to  place  men  who  hold  them, 
in  her  Theological  Professorships — to  have  her  hundreds  of  in- 
telligent, pious  candidates  for  the  ministry,  the  beneficiaries  of  the 
church,  and  the  hope  of  the  world,  poisoned  with  such  infidel 
dogmas,  and  all  her  pious  funds  applied  to' their  propngation  and 
support?  Are  these  the  soul-enlightening  and  renovating  truths  on 
Vv'hich  to  carry  forward  our  glorious  system  of  revivals  and  of 
missions'?  Are  these  the  doctrines  which  our  Saviour  inculcated, 
which  apostles  preached,  for  which  martyrs  bled?  Shall  those 
ministers  of  our  ecclesiastical  communion,  who,  in  the  glowing 
spirit  of  Refojvnation,  have  the  religious  integiity  and  the  moral 
courage  to  resist  these  stale  heresies,  by  bearing  testimony  against 
them,  be  accounted  uncharitable  and  persecuting?  If  this  be  per- 
secution, I  plead  guilty  of  the  charge,  and  glory  in  it. 

"  But  the  plea  urged  for  toleration,  that  the  propagators  of  these 
anti-christian  notions,  are  for  the  most  part  men  of  age,  of  popular 
talents,  and  of  reputed  piety,  is  deceptive  and  inadmissible.  That 
they  have,  to  some  extent,  talent  and  character,  constitutes  the 


OLD    SCHOOL   VINDICATED.  67 

2;reatest  aggravation  of  their  guilt.  The  heretical  opinions  of  Pe- 
lagius  did  not  appear  till  he  was  far  advanced  in  life  ;  and  Augus- 
tin,  his  chief  antagonist,  acknowledges  that  his  previous  reputation 
for  piety  was  great  in  the  Christian  world.*  His  followers,  in  our 
<;hurch,  in  some  cases,  we  admit,  prostitute  distinguished  powers, 
work  with  a  strong  arm,  employ,  sometimes,  as  did  Pelagius,  the 
eloquence  of  g/'cii/  hairs  {elocjuar  an  sileam)  to  enforce  their  en- 
snaring sophisms,  and  secure  their  victims.  But  shall  they,  be- 
cause distinguished  and  even  honoured  in  the  church,  well  fur- 
nished and  located  to  corrupt  and  destroy,  be  permitted  to  go  on 
without  a  check  ?  Did  Augustin  so  judge  and  so  act,  in  the  period 
of'  the  arch  deceiver,  Pelagius?  What  ?  the  criminal  arraigned  lo 
})lead  in  mitigation  of  his  oficnce,  his  standing  and  influence?  This 
very  power  is  chiefly  to  be  feared,  and  most  of  all  should  it  arouse  the 
church.  Left  to  itself,  it  spreads  its  fatal  influence  with  a  greater  and 
greater  degree  of  expansiveness,  through  a  thousand  channels, 
over  the  young,  the  ignorant,  the  credulous,  and  the  wavering 
multitude.  To  avoid  sus[)icion  and  detection,  glosses  and  eva- 
sions may  be  expected,  the  arts  of  philosophy  and  '  the  opposi- 
M.jns  of  science,  falsely  so  called,'  and  all  'the  deceivableness  of 
unrighteousness,'  will  be  tried,  not  only  to  beguile  the  unwary,  but, 
•  if  it  were  possible,  to  deceive  the  very  elect.'  Mat.  xxiv.,  24. 
"A  Member  of  New  Bruxswick  Presbyterv." 
The  recent  introduction  of  Rev.  Albert  Barnes,  with  his  glaring 
iicresies,  into  Philadelphia,  and  the  unhappy  means  employed  by 
the  New  School  men  belonging  to  the  ecclesiastical  judicatories 
.'ibout  that  city,  with  which  he  came  into  contact,  their  spurious 
measures  and  their  occasional  successes,  in  screening  him  and 
his  false  doctrines  from  merited  condemnation,  justly  struck  alarm 
through  the  whole  church,  and  caused  the  meetincr  of  the  General 
Assembly  for  1S34,  to  be  looked  for  with  serious  apprehension. 
To  this  impression,  the  rapid  and  wide  diffusion  of  disorder  and 
misrule  through  the  churches,  the  extensive  dissemination  of  New 
School  errors  in  doctrine,  the  supineness  of  the  church  in  general 
I  in  the  subject,  the  laxness  and  neglect  of  several  preceding  Gene- 
ral Assemblies,  through  the  wily  influence  of  Congregational  arti- 
i'ice,  in  regard  to  correcting  abuses,  a  duty  which  had  been  co- 
gently urged  upon  her  attention  to  awaken  her  to  timely  vigilance 
and  reform,  all  seemed  strongly  conducive.  The  few  watchmen 
en  the  walls  of  Zion  who  were  awake,  saw  the  peril  thickening 
and  the  crisis  approaching. 

*  Mil.  Ch.  Hist.,  Vol.  II.,  p.  35S. 


68  OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED. 


CHAPTER    IX. 

Case  of  Albert  Barnes  presented — As  introductory  to  his  character  and  ap- 
pearance, extracts  from  The  Criais  are  inserted — Irregular  action  of  the 
General  Assembly  of  1834 — Character  of  that  body — Western  Memorials 
— The  report  of  Committee — Resolutions  of  Assembly — Protest  by  mi- 
nority— Its  character. 

The  case  of  Albert  Barnes  was  the  torch  appHed  by  the  New 
♦School  faction  in  Philadelphia,  to  the  mass  of  combustibles  which, 
had  been  accumulating  in  that  city  and  its  vicinity  for  years. 
The  troubles  he  occasioned  in  the  church  were  protracted  and 
complex.  An  accurate  detail  of  them  would  necessarily  cover 
much  paper.  As  a  connecting  link  in  this  chain  of  illustration, 
and  as  the  best  outline  we  can  present  of  that  imprudent  and 
troublesome  man,  we  can  do  nothing  better  than  transfer  to  these 
pages,  some  extracts  from  a  pamphlet  called  Tlie  Crisis,  pub- 
lished by  the  writer,  in  March,  183G,  two  successive  editions  of 
which  were  issued  by  Robert  Carter,  Esq.,  New  York,  over  the 
author's  geneological  signature,  A  son  of  the  Huguenots.  The 
facts  for  this  pamphlet  had  been  on  hand  some  time,  and  the 
work  in  waiting  for  farther  developments,  till  the  publication 
seemed  to  be  imperatively  demanded. 

In  introducing  the  Crisis  here,  we  observe  rather  the  order  in 
which  it  was  prepared,  than  that  of  its  original  publication. 

THE     CRISIS. 

"  The  evils  threatened  to  our  beloved  church,  and  the  designs 
of  her  adversaries,  whether  partially  fulfilled  or  still  prospective, 
are  clearly  concentrated  in  the  case  of  the  Rev.  Albert  Barnes. 
-Although  it  is  not  the  object  of  these  pages  to  enter  directly  into 
the  controversy  between  him  and  Dr.  Junkin,  we  cannot  with- 
hold a  few  passing  remarks  upon  the  Notes  on  the  Romans,  and 
the  character  of  their  author. 

"No  undertaking  requires  so  many  peculiar,  rare,  and  high 
qualifications,  as  that  of  a  sacred  commentator.  To  this  work, 
Mr.  Barnes'  capacity  is  by  no  means  adapted.  He  does  not  pos- 
sess the  precision  and  accuracy  of  mind,  the  nice  discrimination, 
the  comprehensiveness  of  view,  the  age,  patience,  distrust  of  self- 
exemption  from  prejudice,  extensive,  various,  and  well-digested 
knowledge  necessary  to  execute  this  arduous  task  with  success. 
Besides,  suspected  as  he  always  has  been,  especially  since  he 
published  his  sermon  on  the  Way  of  Salvation,  by  a  large  and  re- 
spectable number  of  his  brethren  who  had  the  best  means  of 
knowing,  with  holding  erroneous  opinions,  doctrines  offensive  to 


OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED.  69 

the  church  because  at  variance  with  her  standards,  and  satis- 
fied of  the  fact,  as  he  appears  to  have  been,  it  was  certainly  a 
very  rash  measure  so  hastily  to  spread  before  the  world  his  crude 
strictures  on  the  Romans.  What  has  occurred,  under  such  cir- 
cumstances, could  not  fail  to  occur.  The  performance  is  very 
imperfect;  sufficient  greatly  to  depress,  if  not  destroy,  his  reputa- 
tion as  a  theologian  and  scholar  in  the  estimation  of  sound  and 
accurate  men.  The  Apostle's  profound  and  comprehensive  argu- 
ments, either  from  design  to  misrepresent  them,  or  from  want  of 
clear  and  expanded  views,  are  exhibited,  in  many  places,  in  de- 
tached and  broken  parts,  as  incoherent  fragments  of  thought, 
often  destitute  of  meaning,  force,  or  beauty.  In  some  of  the  most 
difficult  and  important  passages,  there  is  much  perversion,  evasion, 
and  concealment;  and,  in  some  instances,  attempts  to  annihilate 
what  the  learned  and  pious  have  ever  pronounced  to  be  the  very 
essence  of  the  sacred  text.  The  plainest  principles  of  Greek 
grammar,  which  every  schoolboy  ought  to  be  familiar  with,  arc 
set  at  naught ;  and  the  best  established  rules  of  exegetical  exposi- 
tion outraged,  to  make  the  Apostle's  language  tally  with  his  ex- 
positor's preconceived  opinions. 

"  That  Mr.  Barnes  holds  unsound  doctrines  is  now  established 
by  his  own  statements  and  concessions;  and  I  do  most  honestly 
declare  that  I  never  was  fully  satisfied  of  his  serious  criminality 
till  I  received  the  conviction  from  a  careful  reading  of  his  own 
attempt  at  vindication.  The  very  efibrt  he  makes  to  pervert  the 
nature  and  impair  the  force  of  our  ordination  vows,  to  resolve 
these  most  sacred  en2i;afTements  into  mere  matters  of  form,  allow- 
ing  numberless  reserves  and  departures  from  their  letter  and 
spirit,  abrogating,  at  once,  their  solemn  sanctions  and  binding 
force,  gives  origin  to  most  painful  suspicions  ;  and  is  an  enormity 
never  before,  in  our  land,  with  so  much  effi^ontery,  put  forth  to 
the  light;  an  enormity  deserving  the  solemn  consideration  and  re- 
buke of  the  church. 

"  Our  strictures  will  be  confined  chiefly  to  Mr.  Barnes'  prelimi- 
nary remarks  in  his  defence,  which  abound  with  positions  of  the 
most  unwarrantable  nature,  inasmuch  as  their  direct  tendency  is 
to  destroy  the  purity  and  peace  of  our  church. 

"  The  leading  object  of  these  sheets  is  to  show  design,  in  Mr. 
Barnes  and  his  adherents,  to  introduce  into  our  church  corruption  ot 
doctrine  and  order ;  to  evade  honest  investigation  and  constitutional 
trial;  to  mislead  the  public  mind  by  uncandid  and  inflammatory 
statements;  to  excite  odium  against  the  truth  and  its  advocates; 
in  a  word,  to  defeat  judicial  proceedings,  and  paralyze  all  disci- 
pline in  the  church,  with  a  design  to  open  a  wide  door  for  the  en- 
trance of  every  *  unclean  thing.' 

*'  In  his  defence  against  the  charges  of  Dr.  Junkin,  Mr.  Barnes 


70  OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED. 

has  so  far  implicated  the  Theological  Seminary  at  Princeton,  and 
the  Presbytery  of  New  Brunswick,  as  to  render  necessary  some 
statement  of  the  opinion  entertained  respecting  him  while  on  Iriai^s 
before  that  judicatory.  So  far  as  the  writer  recollects  or  can 
ascertain  now,  he  was  considered,  by  those  who  knew  him  best, 
as  a  young  man  of  pretty  good  parts,  hopeful  piety,  desirous  of 
knowledge  and  addicted  to  study,  but  imprudently  fond  of  Eastern 
theories  and  speculations,  tenacious  of  novel  and  doubtful  opinion?, 
often  occasioning  among  his  fellow  students  unprofitable  and  per- 
plexing disputations ;  on  the  whole,  as  to  his  theological  course, 
rather  creating  painful  apprehensions  than  inspiring  confidence. 
In  his  trials  before  the  Presbytery,  his  evasive  and  equivocal 
terms,  and  unusual  statements  on  some  cardinal  points,  excited 
dissatisfaction  in  the  minds  of  some  members.  But  supposing,  as 
they  did,  that  they  might  have  been  somewhat  mistaken,  thai  the 
candidate  might  have  spoken  unguardedly,  that  he  would  obtain 
more  clear  and  satisfactory  views  by  age  and  reflection,  and 
inclining  to  great  moderation  and  indulgence,  there  was  no  open 
objection  made  to  Mr.  Barnes'  licensure.  Soon  after  he  was 
transferred,  for  ordination,  to  a  sister  Presbytery,  upon  whom  de- 
volved the  chief  responsibility  of  inducting  him  into  the  sacred 
office. 

"Here  it  is  to  be  observed,  that  a  designing,  artful  candidate 
can  deceive  any  Presbytery.  Mr.  Barnes  now  informs  us,  that 
while  at  Princeton,  Jiis  views  were  the  same  as  now  !  If  this  be 
true,  it  is  a  seiious  fact,  as  we  shall  discover,  a  dark  and  melan- 
choly chapter  in  his  history.  In  his  assertion,  that  this  was  fully 
Itnown,  he  commits  a  monstrous  mistake!  Had  he  honestly  and 
fully  disclosed  his  opinions,  as  they  are  now  fully  known,  there 
cannot  be  a  doubt — fidelity  to  the  principles  and  character  of  thai 
pure  and  respectable  company  of  Christian  ministers  compels  the 
declaration — that  he  would  assuredly  have  been  rebuked  and  re- 
jected. It  is  evident,  from  his  own  words,  that  he  entered  the 
holy  oilice  as  a  probationer,  by  such  an  act  as  ought  to  affect  any 
minister's  public  character.  We  regrel  Mr.  Barnes'  reference  to 
this  Presbytery,  as  it  imposes,  to  some  extent,  the  painful  duty  of 
explanation.  Even  if  thai  body,  in  its  Presbyterial  capacity, 
choose  passively  to  bear  the  reference,  some  individual  members 
feel  a  desire  to  wipe  ofl'  the  stigma.  It  is  always  ofiensive  to  be 
duped.  But  how  uncandid  and  unjust  does  it  seem  to  make  the  Pres- 
bytery responsible  for  a  licensure  which,  his  own  words  roundly 
aver,  was  obtained  by  double-dealing;  that  is,  by  assenting  to  the 
standards  in  one  form,  and  silently  and  secretly  intending  to  inter- 
pret them  in  another  !  For,  as  we  shall  see  from  Mr.  Barnes'  own 
account  of  this  transaction,  such  is  its  just  import. 

"  The  plan  of  making  secret  exceptions  and  mental  reservations 


OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED.  71 

in  forming  contracts,  has  always  been  considered  by  honest  men 
as  culpable  and  disgraceful.  Our  Confession  condemns  it,  chap, 
xxii.,  sec.  4:  'An  oath  is  to  be  taken  in  the  plain  and  common 
sense  of  the  words,  without  equivocation  or  mental  reservation  /' 
This  dishonest  course  was  denounced  in  the  Assembly  of  1834, 
which  did  more  to  favour  heresy  than  any  preceding  General 
Assembly,  viz:  «  Resolved,  that  in  receiving  and  adopting  the  for- 
mularies of  our  church,  every  person  ought  to  be  supposed,  with- 
out evidence  to  the  contrary,  to  receive  and  adopt  them  according 
to  the  obvious,  known,  and  established  meaning  of  the  tet'ms,  as 
the  confession  of  his  faith ;  and  that  if  objections  be  made,  the 
Presbytery,  unless  he  withdraw  such  objections,  should  not  li- 
cense, or  ordain,  or  admit  him.'  Ex.  p.  26.  The  Presbytery  of 
New  Brunswick,  in  taking  Mr.  Barnes'  solemn  engagement,  really 
believed  he  was  receiving  and  adopting  the  Confession  of  Faitli 
according  to  the  obvious,  known,  and  established  meaning  of  its 
terms.  But  Mr.  Barnes  now  discloses  something  widely  different. 
*  The  system  of  doctrines  contained  in  the  standards,  I  received 
as  a  system.  I  received  it,  not  indeed  ever  expressing  my  assent 
to  every  expression  and  form  of  expression,  but  as  reserving  to 
myself  the  right,  in  common  with  all  others,  of  examining  the 
language,  and  forming  an  opinion  of  its  meaning.'  This  is  in 
direct-violation  of  the  above  extracts  from  the  Confession  of  Faith 
and  the  minutes  of  the  Assembly.  Mr.  Barnes  here  takes  a  posi- 
tion, we  think,  far  in  advance  of  the  main  body  of  troublesome 
intruders  into  onr  church.  They  have  practised  this  artifice, 
been  suspected  of  it,  been  charged  with  it,  but  from  fear  of  public 
opinion  and  the  shame  of  detection,  they  have  stoutly  denied  the 
charge  !  Mr.  Barnes  throws  ofTall  restraint,  takes  the- very  ground 
of  Unitarians,  Pelagians,  Taylorites,  of  his  Eastern  theological 
fraternity,  and  openly  asserts  the  right  of  signing  the  Confession 
as  a  whole,  for  doctrine,  for  substance,  intending  to  interpret, 
mutilate,  or  distort  the  individual  parts  of  the  system,  to  suit  any 
other  system  which  latent  scepticism,  false  philosophy,  fanaticism, 
or  folly  may  suggest.  Is  not  this  monstrous  for  a  man  laying 
claims  to  common  sense  and  common  honesty  ?  He  even  asserts 
that  he  entered  the  sacred  oifice  exercising  this  right,  these  secret 
reserves  and  hidden  intentions;  thus  imposing  upon  the  pure  and 
unsuspecting  judicatories  through  which  he  passed ;  nay,  he  tells 
us,  that  on  this  right  of  secret  reserves  and  exceptions  he  vindi- 
cates himself  in  holding  the  false  doctrines  of  which  he  now 
stands  convicted  before  the  church.  Now,  what  is  this  but  setting 
up  one  crime  to  vindicate  another — practising  fraud  to  secure  ad- 
vantages for  propagating  heresy  1  Without  preferring  any  charge, 
we  would  here  recommend  to  Mr.  Barnes,  for  serious  considera- 
tion, the  remarkable,  and,  as  we  conceive,  not  inappropriate  Ian- 


%« 


72  OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED. 

guage  of  Peter  to  Ananias,  Acts  v.,  3:  'Why  hath  Satan  fiiied 
thine  heart  to  lie  to  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  to  keep  back  part  of  the 
price  (pronaise)  ?  While  it  remained,  was  it  not  thine  own  ?  Why 
hast  thou  conceived  this  thing  in  thine  heart  1  Thou  hast  not  lied 
unto  man,  but  unto  God.' 

"In  examining  Mr.  Barnes'  subsequent  course,  as  developed  by 
himself,  we  find  similar  exhibitions  of  unsound  and  disorderly 
views,  with  short  interims,  down  to  the  present  time ;  and  a  party 
striving  by  every  means  in  their  power  to  sustain  him.  In  ac- 
cordance with  this,  we  find,  in  his  sermon  on  The  Way  of  Salva- 
tion, he  unhesitatingly  discards  the  public  standards:  'Nor  is  he 
to  be  cramped  by  any  frame-work  of  faith  that  has  been  reared 
around  the  Bible.'  How  decisive  and  contemptuous  is  such  lan- 
guage, from  a  man  who  had  bound  himself,  by  the  most  impressive 
and  awful  sanctions,  to  regard  that  very  frame-work  honestly, 
according  to  its  spirit  and  letter!  for  such  is  the  interpretation  put 
upon  the  oath  by  those  who  administered  it.  Seldom,  indeed, 
have  we  been  more  astonished  and  grieved  than  at  finding  so 
many  indications  of  this  character.  The  sermon  containing  this 
renunciation  of  our  standards  exhibits  principles  and  views  op- 
posed to  some  most  important  doctrines  of  our  Confession.  Hence 
the  zeal  and  perseverance  of  his  adherents  to  screen  both  himseli 
and  his  discourse  from  deserved  censure.  The  result  'is  w-ell 
known.  Mr.  Barnes'  account  of  the  transaction  is  quite  remark- 
able: 'Charges  similar  to  these  had  been  alleged  against  me,  not 
indeed  in  a  formal  and  regular  manner,  but  in  an  irregular  man- 
ner, by  the  Presbytery  of  Philadelphia.  Those  accusations  had 
been  laid  before  the  General  Assembly,  and  the  highest  judicature 
of  the  Presbyterian  Church  had  fully  acquitted  me  of  them  ." 
Did  that  General  Assembly,  or  any  other,  ever  declare  that  Mr. 
Barnes  did  not  hold  the  opinions  charged  as  errors?  JMr.  Barnes 
knows  to  the  contrary.  This  full  acquittal  was  such  as  left  more- 
than  two-fifths  of  that  Assembly  fully  persuaded  of  his  guilt  in  the 
matter  of  accusation.  The  decision,  as  was  openly  avowed  by  a 
large  portion  both  of  the  majority  and  minority,  turned  much  more 
on  points  of  policy  than  upon  ihe  merits  of  the  charges.  The 
same  controversy  was  continued,  in  different  forms,  till  the  As- 
sembly of  1S34  introduced  and  sanctioned  the  affinity  system. 
This  decisive  step  in  favor  of  heresy,  instead  of  acquitting  Mr. 
Barnes,  admitted  his  guilt,  and  was  designed  to  provide  for  him  a 
safe  retreat  in  his  heretical  course.  In  all  these  complicate  mea- 
sures, from  year  to  year,  the  same  man  in  substance  is  indirectly 
under  process.  In  the  back  ground  we  discover  a  conspiracy  in 
progress  to  shelter  these  dangerous  opinions  and  their  author  from 
merited  condemnation ;  to  provide  inlets  for  large  numbers  of 
these  spurious  operators ;  and  eventually  to  overturn  the  whole 


OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED.  13 

Presbyterian  system.  Mr.  Barnes  never  has  been  acquitted  in  the 
Presbyterian  Church;  and  while  lie  holds  his  heretical  opinions, 
and  she  adheres  to  her  standards,  based  upon  the  pure  gospel  of 
Jesus  Christ,  he  never  can  be  set  free  from  the  charges  now 
alleged. 

"  Mr.  Barnes'  sermon  before  the  Theological  Seminary  at 
Princeton,  September,  1834,  still  farther  discloses  his  rage  for 
speculation  on  the  truths  of  the  Bible.  'Nor  is  it,'  says  he,  re- 
ferring to  modern  discoveries  in  science,  'nor  is  it  demonstrated 
that  the  limit  of  advancement  is  yet  reached  ;  or  that  the  human 
mind  must  pause  here  and  hope  to  proceed  no  farther.  Tli£se 
men  (philosophers  named)  have  just  opened  illimitable  fields  of 
thought  before  the  mind.  Jlnd  so  it  may  be  in  Theology.  The 
system  was  as  perfect  in  the  Scriptures  as  Astronomy  was  before 
Newton  lived  ;  yet  it  is  possible  that  there  are  truths,  and  relations 
of  truths,  which  the  mind  has  not  yet  contemplated.''  We  intro- 
duce this  extract  merely  to  exhibit  Mr.  Barnes'  real  character  to 
the  public,  whom  he  has  so  elaborately  and  voluminously  ad- 
dressed, to  show  how  completely  he  has  thrown  otT  all  the  re- 
straints of  our  standards,  and  rejected  the  landmarks  of  reason 
and  common  sense.  Concede  to  him  that  Theology,  the  meaning 
of  the  Bible,  is  to  be  altered,  amended,  or  new-modelled,  as  As- 
tronomy was  by  Newton,  as  a  system  of  experimental  philosophy  ; 
or  like  the  progressive  science  of  Botany  or  Chemistry,  like  a  cot- 
ton gin  or  steam  engine;  and  all  religious  truth  maybe  subli- 
mated, frittered  away,  and  ejected  from  the  world,  by  the  insa- 
tiable spirit  of  innovation.  Besides,  what  confidence  can  be 
placed  in  the  public  ministry  of  a  man  whose  opinions  rest  upon 
so  visionary  and  fluctuating  a  basis?  How  can  he  himself  pro- 
claim and  urge  any  thing  upon  dying  souls  as  the  truth  of  God 
and  able  to  save,  when  it  may  be  an  obsolete  error,  a  total  mis- 
take, which  the  march  of  mind  and  increase  of  light  may  super- 
sede; and  then  follow  with  some  new  vision,  to  be,  in  its  turn, 
admired  and  abandoned? 

"IMr.  Barnes'  defence  is  replete  with  painful  indications  of  de- 
sign to  evade  his  ordination  vows,  and  to  depart  from  the  con- 
fession of  our  faith.  The  follo-wing  passage  admits  the  charges 
and  evinces  fixed  purpose,  at  least,  under  the  present  process,  to 
cleave  to  his  errors,  and  brave  all  consequences.  'I  am  not  con- 
scious of  being  so  obstinately  attached  to  the  exposition  which  I 
have  adopted,  as  to  be  unwilling  to  be  convinced  of  error;  and,  if 
convinced,  to  abandon  the  sentiments  which  I  have  expressed. 
Whether  the  mode  that  will  be  most  likely  to  secure  a  change  of 
opinion  is  that  of  arraigning  me  for  the  high  misdemeanor  of 
heresy,  is  the  most  desirable  to  secure  such  a  result,  I  -shall  not 
now  inquire.     In  this  land  and  in  these  times,  a  change  of  opinion 


74  OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED. 

is  to  be  effected,  not  by  the  language  of  authority,  not  by  an  ap- 
peal to  the  fathers,  not  by  calling  on  us  simply  to  listen  to  the 
voice  of  other  limes ;  but  by  the  sober  and  solid  exposition  of  the 
oracles  of  God.  Men,  even  in  error,  listen  respeclfully  to  those 
who  attempt  to  reason  with  them,  and  to  convince  them  that  ihey 
are  wrong;  t key  turn  instinctively  away  when  denunciation  takes 
ihe  place  of  argument,  and  the  cry  of  heresy  is  the  substitute  for 
a  sober  appeal  to  the  understanding.'  iVJr.  Barnes'  reformation 
then  is  hopeless!  He  admits  that  he  is  in  error.  He  quarrels 
dreadfully  with  Dr.  Junkin's  constitutional  resort  to  set  him  right. 
He  has  proved  incorrigible  under  a  constant  course  of  warning 
and  admonition  ever  since  he  entered  Philadelphia.  The  history, 
of  our  church  for  the  last  five  years,  is  an  indelible  record  of  that 
fact!  U  Dr.  Junkin  had  approached  him  with  bended  knee  and 
suppliant  tone,  if  the  church  had  come  (not  with  autkoiity!) 
humbly  suing  at  his  feet,  he  might  have  deigned  to  listen.  But 
the  name  of  heresy,  accusations,  charges,  dreadful !  He  turns  in- 
stinctively away!  Yes,  and  hugs  his  false  opinions  closer  than 
ever.  Remember  this  is  the  profoundly  meek  and  devout  Mr. 
Barjies.  Remember,  too,  when  in  error,  his  embracing  or  re- 
fusing reform  depends  not  upon  the  nature,  the  evidence,  the  im- 
portance of  truth;  but  upon  the  gentleness,  the  soft  and  timid  re- 
serve, the  courtesy,  with  which  it  is  commended  to  him.  Ad- 
mirable trait  in  a  New  School  commentator! ! 

"  But  Mr,  Barnes'  course  is  very  different.  He  openly  declares 
that  he  commenced  his  Notes  with  an  intention  not  to  he  ivjlu- 
cnced  by  a  regard  to  the  Confession  of  Faith.  And  now,  after 
finishing  the  work,  being  convicted  of  heresy,  and  even  acknow- 
ledging himself  in  error,  he  avows  it  as  the  deliberate  and  settled 
purpose  of  his  mind  always  to  he  goverricd  hy  this  principle  : 
and  yet  pertinaciously  continues  in  the  church  whose  purity  he 
has  marred,  whose  peace  he  has  wounded,  and  whose  authority 
.  lie  has  contemned  !  After  this,  no  man  will  do  Sir.  Barnes  the  in- 
justice to  charge  him  with  being  a  Presbyterian;  with  belonging, 
in  heart  and  s]jirir,  to  that  or  any  other  denomination;  with  hav- 
ing, indeed,  any  settled  views  of  truth  at  all.  If  he  should  be  found 
to  agree  with  our  constitutional  fo;rms  in  any  instance,  it  will  be  by 
meie  chance!  Really,  his  declarations  are  so  wild  and  extrava- 
gant, that  they  seem  scarely  compatible  with  sanity  of  intellect, 
certainly  at  the  farthest  remove  from  all  consistency  with  that 
integrity  and  candour  of  purpose  and  practice  which  constitute 
the   ve\-y  essence  of  fidelity  to  our  holy  ecclesiastical  compact. 

"  It.  would  appear  from  Mr.  Barnes'  statements,  that  our  church 
has  been  very  indulgent  toward  unsound  members  in  former  times. 
It  is  to  be  regretted  that  he  has  exposed  himself  so  sadly  to  pain- 
ful remark  on  this  topic.     We  can  scarcely  conceive  how  he  could 


OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED.  75 

be  ignorant  of  the  long  line  of  facts  opposed  to  his  representations, 
or  expect  to  escape  detection  in  misstatements  so  notorious.  The 
early  history  of  the  church  records  few  cases  of  error,  and  con- 
sequently of  discipline.  Nothing  is  more  certain  than  this,  ihe 
farther  you  look  back  into  our  ecclesiastical  character,  the  greater 
strictness  and  even  rigor  will  you  find  continually  in  exercise  to 
guard  against  the  approach  of  every  error.  Even  in  1810,  the 
llev.  VV.  C.  Davis,  whose 'gospel  plan'  was  under  process  for 
heresy,  found  not  a  man  in  ihe  Assembly  to  advocate  his  cause. 
The  vote  to  condemn  his  book,  containing  substantially  the  same 
false  doctrine  now  revived  by  Mr.  Barnes,  was  unanimous.  The 
whole  business  occupied  half  a  day.  Times  have  greatly  changed. 
Now,  the  promoters  of  corruption  and  discord  have  augmented 
their  numbers,  and  clog  the  wheels  of  discipline;  they  even  re- 
prove the  advocates  of  Irutli  and  order  for  attempting  at  all  to 
obstruct  their  desolating  course,  and  boldly  denounce  us  as  per- 
secutors ;  a  charge  which  might  as  justly  be  urged  by  a  felon 
at  the  bar  against  the  court  and  jury  engaged  in  ferreting  out  his 
crimes. 

"  In  maintaining  his  false  and  dangerous  positions,  Mr.  Barnes 
Calls  to  his  aid  the  Biblical  Repertory,  Princeton,  Vol.  III.,  p.  521, 
ccc,  where  he  finds  the  following  passage:  'The  Confession,  as 
iVamed  by  the  Westminster  Divines,  was  an  acknov\lcdged  compro- 
mise between  two  classes  of  theologians.  When  adopted  by  the 
Presbyterian  Church  in  this  country,  it  was  with  the  understand- 
ing that  the  mode  of  sub  scrip  lion  did  not  imply  strict  uniformity  of 
views.'  The  character  of  this  journal  is  such  as  to  require  a  con- 
sideration of  what  is  here  advanced.  The  passage  quoted  is  the 
mere  opinion  of  one  man,  or  at  most  of  a  very  few,  superintend- 
ing a  periodical  at  a  time  calculated  to  lull  vigilance.  Instead  of 
receiving  the  sanction  of  public  opinion,  it  was  met  by  genera! 
disapprobation,  as  opening  a  door  for  mischievous  innovators  U> 
intrude  themselves  unawares.  That  the  understanding,  here 
gratuitously  proclaimed  as  universal,  mii^ht  have  existed  in  the 
minds  of  a  few  obstinate  sticklers  for  opinion  in  that  large  con- 
clave which  formed  the  Confession,  at  Westminster,  and  adopted 
it  in  this  country,  may  be  supposed;  but  that  sijch  was  tlie  de- 
i-igned  and  approved  import  of  the  pledge  and  signatuie,  to  be 
required  in  all  after-time,  is  really  too  romantic  to  be  for  a  mo- 
ment admitted.  Who  does  not  see  that  in  this  case  our  bond  of  union 
must  immediately  have  proved  a  rope  of  sand — our  beautiful  system, 
a  promiscuous  heap  of  fragments — and  the  church,  not  a  glorious 
building,  fitly  framed  and  compacted  together,  but  a  heteroge- 
neous image  of  gold  and  silver,  brass  and  iron  !  The  sequel  of 
this  extract  from  the  Repertory  is  still  more  revolting,  as  it  really 
appears  to  concede  every  thing  v^■hich  the  direst  foes  of  our  sys- 


7G  OLD    SCHOOL    VIXDICATED. 

tern  are  struggling  for ;  the  right  of  adopting  her  standards  for 
doctrine,  the  very  evasion  practised  by  Mr.  Barnes.  'The  very 
terms,  "system  of  doctrines,"  conveys  a  definite  idea,  the  idea  of 
a  regular  series  of  connected  opinions  having  a  natual  relation, 
and  constituting  one  ic/iole.  These  doctrines  are  clearly  ex- 
pressed ;  such  as  the  doctrine  of  the  Trinity,  ti]e  incarnation  and 
supreme  deity  of  Christ,  the  fall,  and  original  sin,  atonement,  jus- 
tification by  faith.  With  respect  to  each  of  these  several  points 
there  are,  and  may  safely  be,  various  modes  of  statement  and  ex- 
planation,  consistent  icilh  their  sincere  reception.'  In  connexion 
with  this,  the  writer  asks,  '  How  is  the  subscription,  or  assent  to 
our  standards,  to  be  interpreted?  or  with  what  degree  of  strict- 
ness is  the  phrase  "system  of  doctrines,"  as  it  occurs  in  the  ordi- 
nation service,  to  be  explained?  who  is  to  judge  whether  an  ex- 
planation does,  or  does  not,  interfere  with  what  is  essential  to  a 
particular  doctrine?  We  answer,  in  the  first  place,  this  is  a  ques- 
tion for  every  man  to  answer.'  The  writer's  remarks  too  much 
favour  the  supposition  that  the  main  force  of  our  ordination  pro,- 
misc  falls  upon  the  words  '  system  of  doctrines.'  As  this  is  deeply 
interesting,  let  us  examine  it.  '  Do  you  sincerely  receive  and  adopt 
the  Confession  of  Faith  of  this  church,  as  C(^ntaining  the  system  of 
doctrines  taught  in  the  Holy  Scriptures?'  Now  according  to  tfie 
apparent  meaning  of  the  Repertory,  the  candidate  primarily  and 
principally  receives  and  adopts  '  the  system  of  doctrine^  We  ask 
what  is  the  particular  form  and  character  of  these  doctrines? 
The  writer's  answer  is,  'This  is  a  question  for  every  man  to  an- 
swer' as  he  may  please.  If  so,  the  termis  'Confession  of  Faith  of 
this  church,'  might  as  well  be  expunged  altogether.  But  we  ap- 
prehend this  to  be  an  entirely  erroneous  construction  of  the  whole 
article.  Examine  the  question  proposed  :' Do  you  sincerely  re- 
ceive and  adopt' — what? — 'the  system  of  doctrines?'  No, 'the 
Confession  of  Faith  of  this  Church.'  This  is  the  very  gist  of  the 
(jucstion,  and  here  rests  the  main  force  of  the  obligation.  Why 
receive  '  the  Confession  of  Faith  V  because  we  believe  it  '  contains 
the  system  of  doctrines  taught  in  the  Holy  Scriptures.'  Now, 
suppose  any  man  should  insist  that  this  Confession  does  not  con- 
tain the  doctrines  of  the  Sacred  Scriptures  ;  it  is  plain  he  cannot 
be  an  honest  Presbyterian;  for  this  point  is  settled  by  our  form  of 
induction  into  the  church,  and  every  sincere  signer  professes  his 
confirmed  belief  in  this  principle.  There  were,  doubtless,  present 
to  the  minds  of  the  framers  of  our  Confession  many  systems  of 
doctrine,  and  there  exist  still  many  forms  of  faith,  at  war  with 
each  other,  all  represented  by  their  respective  advocates  to  be 
embraced  by  the  Holy  Scriptures.  Our  Confession  makes  its  se- 
lection and  exhibits  its  choice,  to  the  exclusion  of  every  opposing 
form  of  words,  in  distinct  and  permanent  traits;  and  every  honest 


OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED.  77 

receiver  yields  and  records  his  unqualified  and  unwavering  assent 
to  it.  Does  any  man  incjliire  what  the  doctrinal  system  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church  is?  We  refer  him — not  to  the  evasive  spec- 
ulations or  dubious  answers  of  others — but  directly  to  '  the  Con- 
fession of  Faith,'  which  the  book  describes  as  containing  this 
system.  We  tell  the  inquirer  the  very  object  of  the  Confession 
was  to  prevent  private  and  devious  explanation;  to  distinguisli 
our  system  from  all  opposing  systems;  to  prevent  any  mistake  or 
confusion  among  ourselves  respecting  the  real  character  and  im- 
port of  our  doctrines. 

''Our  meaning  may  be  appositely  illustrated  in  a  few  particu- 
lars from  the  case  now  pending.  Mr.  Barnes  has  subscribed  to 
the  doctrine  of  the  \fall  and  original  sin'  How  does  he  explain 
it?  ^ All  sin  is  voluntary!^  of  course,  tjiere  is  no  corruption  of 
nature  nor  guilt  till  moral  agency  commences.  '  Sinners  have  no 
federal  relation  to  Adam,  and  are  not  answerable  lor  his  guilt.' 
'The  notion  of  imputation  is  an  invention  of  modern  limes.'  As 
this  doctrine  is  explained  by  Mr.  Barnes,  men  have  no  sin  till  they 
create  it  by  actual  transgression.  '  It  is  a  result  secured  by  bad 
conduct,  just  as  the  drunkard  becomes  such  and  ruins  his  family 
by  bad  habits.'  Now,  is  this  explanation  consistent  with  an  honest 
I'eception  of  either  the  Bible  or  the  Confession  of  Faith  ?  We  think 
far  otherwise. 

"  Asain:  Mr.  Barnes  holds  the  doctrine  of  Atonement.  Now 
for  his  explanation  of  this  vital  truth:  'The  sin  of  Adam  and  his 
seed  was  not  imputed  to  Christ,  and  he  punished  on  account  of  it.' 
Of  course,  he  asserts  'Christ  did  not  endure  the  precise  penalty  of 
the  law,'  nor  make  certain  the  salvation  of  any  one.  What  then 
did  he  do  that  resembles  the  work  of  atonement?  Mr.  Barnes 
does  not  inform  us.  As  Christ  liad  no  sin  himself,  and  was  not 
charged  with  the  sin  of  others,  he  must  have  suffered  as  an  inno- 
cent person,  to  make  an  exhibition  of  some  kind,  and  this  is  Mr. 
Barnes'  view,  to  satisfy  public  justice,  the  ends  of  the  divine  go- 
vernment ;  but  without  real  expiation  or  purchase  at  all !  And  yet 
he  very  gravely  talks  about  the  atonement. 

"  Once  more  :  Mr.  Barnes  holds  to  justification  by  faith.  His 
explanation,  so  far  as  it  goes,  completely  removes  the  true  doc- 
trine on  this  fundamental  point  out  of  the  world.  Having  dis- 
carded the  principle  of  imputation,  which  runs  through  the  whole 
Bible,  and  is  so  strikingly  prominent  in  our  Confession,  of  course 
neither  the  person,  nor  the  work',  or  righteousness  of  Christ,  has 
anything  to  do  with  the  sinner's  justification.  The  old  doctrine, 
on  w'hich  we  iiave  been  accustomed  to  repose  our  eternal  hopes 
of  justification  through  Christ's  righteousness  imputed  to  the  sin- 
ner and  received  by  faith  of  God,  is  completely  set  aside  as  a 
stale  error,  or,  more  absurdlv.  as  a  modern  invention;  and  its 


78  OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED. 

place  is  supplied,  in  Mr.  Barnes'  explanation,  by  an  attempt  to 
make  this  infinitely  important  matter,  jusf'(jication  before  God, 
depend  upon  a  blind  mystical  faith  itself,  or  to  resolve  it  into  sim- 
ple pardon  for  sin.  Thus  the  peculiar  doctrines  which  form  the 
basis  of  the  gloriou;s  gospel  may  be  explained  away,  and  enve- 
loped in  impenetrable  and  cheerless  clouds. 

"Thus,  it  seems  to  us,  Mr.  Barnes' own  testimony,  candidly 
'estimated,  is  sufficient  to  place  him  before  the  church  in  a  pre- 
dicament as  little  to  be  envied  as  any  that  can  be  conceived.  And 
when  the  conduct  of  his  advocates  is  viewed  in  connexion  with 
])is  public  declarations  and  acts,  a  fixed  purpose  is  clearly  de- 
veloped by  them  to  evade  honest  investigation  and  constitutional 
trial  altogether.  No  matter  who  is  the  accused,  who  the  prose- 
cutor, or  what  the  charg-e;  they  have  combined  to  trample  the 
•  ■onstitution  under  their  feet,  and  to  nullify  all  its  salutary  pro- 
visions. 

"  We  find  much  serious  cause  to  be  dissatisfied  with  Mr. 
Barnes'  treatment  of  Dr.  Junkin.  His  attempt  to  resolve  his  con- 
duct into  selfish,  suspicious,  and  unhallowed  motives,  cannot  fnil 
to  shock  cver\'  impartial  and  honourable  mind.  'To  Dr.  Junkin 
]  had  done  no  injury,  I  had  made  no  allusion;  his  opinions  1  had 
not  attacked;  nor  in  the  book  on  which  the  charges  are  based, 
have  I  made  the  remotest  allusion  to  him  or  his  doctrines.'  Strange 
indeed  !  Has  then  Mr.  Barnes  the  weakness  to  intimate,  or  sup- 
])ose,  that  process  can  be  properly  instituted  or  reasonably  ex- 
pected against  a  minister  extensively  charged  with  heres3%  only 
where  personal  offence  has  been  given,  where  passion  lias  been 
provoked  and  is  in  exercise?  Can  his  lun^e  liberal  if  ij  aud  abound- 
ing charity  conceive  and  admit  of  no  higher,  no  holier  motive,  in 
I  his  solemn  and  eventful  measure?  Is  then  the  love  of  Christ,  the 
iove  of  his  pure  gospel,  the  love  of  his  church,  the  love  of  souls, 
10  him  a  strange  passion  ?  Or  does  it  glo^v  exclusively  in  his  own 
breast?  .ludge  ye!  What  shall  we  say  of  the  effort  he  makes  to 
hold  up  Dr.  Junkin  to  ridicule  and  reproach  as  a  self-constituted 
guardian  of  the  orthodoxy  and  peace  of  the  church  ?  How  unkind 
and  unchristian  are  such  insinuations!  The  public  are  not  so  ob- 
tuse as  to  mistake  the  meaning.  The  heretic  must  go  free  at  all 
events,  and  the  prosecutor  become  a  x'ictim  of  party  combination 
and  violence.  Even  the  College  of  Lafayette,  which  belongs  to 
the  cause  of  science  and  truth,  is  not  sacred  if  it  come  in  the  way 
rif  such  party  rancor.  Not  only  the  President,  but  the  important 
and  growing  institution  under  his  care,  must  be  swept  away  by 
This  prescriptive  besom.  And  what  has  excited  this  exterminating 
spirit?  Why,  Dr.  Junkin's  simply  proposing,  in  a  manner  which 
all  pronounce  necessary,  and  regular,  and  Christian,  after  the 
whole  church  had  been  invited  by  act  of  the  General  Assembly 


OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED.  79 

lo  this  issue,  proposing  to  show  according  to  the  book,  that  the 
Notes  on  the  Romans  contain  doctrines  opposed  to  our  standards. 
]f  innocent  and  nothing  to  fear,  why  this  asperity  and  rage?  Mr. 
Barnes  says,  '  In  my  own  Presbytery  I  was  in  good  standing.' 
True,  because  the  whole  body,  one  minister  only  excepted,  it  is 
believed,  embraced  the  same  heresies.  But  had  JMr.  Barnes  no 
wish  lo  stand  well  in  the  church  at  large?  Trial  is  the  only 
method  of  removing  suspicions.  This,  neither  Mr.  Barnes  nor 
his  associates  are  prepared  for.  Hence  this  outrageous  attack 
upon  a  Christian  minister,  who  undertakes  an  arduous  public  ser- 
vice, as  we  believe,  from  profound  devotedness  to  duty,  and  exer- 
cisin'?  great  self-denial,  not  courting  distinction,  not  followincr  the 
impulses  of  an  irregular  and  excited  mind,  not  cherishing  a  lofty 
pride  or  unhallowed  ambition,  as  is  cruelly  insinuated  in  the  de- 
fence, but  at  the  often  repeated  challenge  of  the  aggressing  fac- 
tion, and  on  the  suggestion  and  with  the  approbation  of  many  of 
the  advocates  of  truth  and  purity  in  the  Presbyterian  body.  In 
uur  Saviour's  words,  the  plain  inference  is,  'Every  one  that  doeth 
evil  hateth  the  liffht,  neither  cometh  to  the  li^ht,  lest  his  deeds 
should  be  reproved.' 

"  The  exculpatory  sentence  of  the  second  Presbyter}'  of  Phila- 
delpliia  in  Mr.  Barnes'  case,  was  such  as  the  public  anticipated, 
knowing  it  to  be  deeply  tinctured  with  the  same  false  doctrines. 
The  only  fact,  therefore,  established  by  the  trial  before  them,  is, 
that  the  court  are  in  the  same  condemnation  with  their  protege, 
with  this  additional  enormit}',  that  to  previous  individual  corrup- 
tion they  have  added  the  guilt  of  public  official  perfidy  as  guardians 
of  the  church. 

"After  openly  and  repeatedly  announcing  the  fact,  that  he  en- 
tered the  ministry  with  reserves  and  exceptions — after  a  laborious 
and  protracted  argument  to  vindicate  his  heretical  sentiments  on 
the  assumed  right  of  construction  :  and  after  boldly  declaring  his 
sctllt'd  purpose  always  to  disregard  every  confession  and  formula, 
we  are  reall}^  surprised  and  grieved  to  find  Mr.  Barnes  adding, 
to  the  egregious  mass  of  inconsistencies  elsewhere  displayed, 
the  gross  absurdity  of  an  attempt  to  reconcile  his  A'otes  with  the 
Confession  of  Faitk.  His  whole  defence  is  conducted  on  the  ad- 
mission, that  these  discrepancies  exist  as  stated.  Hence  the  at- 
tempt to  distort  the  nature  and  impair  the  force  of  the  ordination 
Vow.  Hence  also  the  various  excuses  and  pretexts  offered  to 
vindicate  the  errors  allea:ed  and  their  author.  What  is  the  im- 
port  of  the  fallowing  extract  from  this  defence?  'The  question 
which  this  Presbytery  is  now  called  on  to  decide,  is,  whether  the 
views  which  are  expressed  in  these  Notes  are  any  longer  lo  be 
tolerated  in  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States  ;  wheth- 
er a  man  who  held  them  at  the  time   of  his  licensure,  who  has 


80  OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED. 

held  and  preached  them  for  ten  years,  is  to  be  allowed  peaceably 
to  hold  them  still ;  or  whether  he  is  to  be  pronounced  heretical 
and  unsound  V  What  opinions  are  these  here  referred  to  1  Cer- 
tainly not  any  doctrines  of  the  Confession  of  Faith.  There  is  no 
controversy  about  them.  No  :  they  are  iindoubtedly  the  heresies 
presented  by  Dr.  Junkin.  The  whole  charge  is  here,  as  in  other 
places,  substantially  admitted.  But,  presently,  Mr.  Barnes'  courage 
fails,  and  he  turns  short  about,  adding  to  the  guilt  of  acknowl- 
edged error  the  criminality  of  uncandid  subterfuge,  and  commen- 
ces a  Jesuitical  process  to  prove  these  very  opinions  to  be  the 
same  with  those  of  our  standards.  To  such  monstrous  absurdi- 
ties heresy  never  fails  to  reduce  its  deluded  propagators.  The 
impossibility  of  this  reconciliation  will  appear  from  a  compari- 
son of  Dr.  Junkin's  argument  with  the  standards  of  the  church. 

"  Let  the  public  observe — Mr.  Barnes  has  brought  upon  him- 
self all  the  guilt — the  charges — the  censures — the  mortification 
and  disgrace — and  the  painful  apprehensions  he  may  suffer,  by 
his  rash  and  incorrigible  course.  He  has  nobody  to  blam.e  but 
himself  and  his  cruel  advisers.  His  plea  for  suspension  of  pro- 
cess, or  discharge  from  condemnation,  amounts  to  the  simple^ 
mo/Iest,  and  reasonable  request,  that  all  the  sworn  friends  of  truth 
and  order  in  our  church,  who  feel  sacredly  '  bound,  with  zeal  and 
fidelity,  to  maintain  the  tri:iths  of  the  gospel  and  the  purity  and 
peace  of  the  church,'  shall  profanely  violate  their  vows,  and 
stand  idly  b}',  when  the  Ark  of  the  law  and  testimony  is  rapa- 
ciously assailed  by  aliens  from  the  commonwealth  of  Israel  and 
strap gers  from  our  covenant  and  promise.  What  renders  his 
(;ase  iDost  desperate  is,  that  his  defence,  now  before  the  public, 
constituted  as  it  is,  contains  from  his  own  hand  the  elements  of 
self-destruction.  Unless  the  sentiments  it  contains  are  promptly 
and  totally  retracted,  and  the  whole  ground  he  there  assumes  for 
defence  abandoned  as  untenable,  that  very  defence  will  prove  a 
bill  of  indictment  and  must  seal  his  fate.  If  the  principles  which 
that  defence  avows  are  sanctioned  in  the  General  Assembly,  the 
Presbyterian  Church,  as  established  by  our  wise  and  venerable 
forefathers,  is  that  moment,  and  foiever  after,  dissolved  ;  on  those 
p.rinciplcs  no  pure  church  ever  existed,  or  can  exist,  beneath  the 
sun.  So  that  we  have  here  presented  a  bold,  insidious,  and  de- 
termined assault  upon  the  vital  existence  of  our  sacred  union — 
an  attempt,  at  a  stroke,  to  sever  the  tie  that  binds  us  in  this  great 
Christian  fraternity — and  then  to  plead  the  profane  dissolution  it- 
self, as  a  defence  for  the  enormities  under  process  before  our 
sacred  tribunals. 

"Our  former  remarks  upon  Mr.  Barnes'  statements  respecting 
his  views  of  the  engngement  made  on  first  assuming  the  sacred 
office,  were  intended  chieflv  to  correct  his  erroneous  and  danger- 


OLD  SCHOOL   VINDICATED^  81 

OU3  constraction  of  that  sacred  promise  as  a  part  of  our  church 
policy.  We  now  proceed  to  consider  the  morality  of  Mr.  Barnes' 
conduct  in  this  solemn  transaction,  as  developed  by  himself.  The 
subject  is  truly  momentous  and  impressive;  and  nothing  but  a 
lively  view  of  its  comprehensive  bearing  and  influence,  and  a 
solemn  sense  of  duty,  awakened  by  Mr.  Barnes'  alarming  disclo- 
sures, prompts  us  to  enter  upon  this  solemn  discussion.  We  pity 
this  deluded  and  unhappy  man,  whose  friends,  by  foolish  flattery 
and  infatuated  counsel,  have  brought  him  blindfold  to  the  preci- 
pice. As  the  question  with  us  now  is  between  the  Church  of 
Chjist  and  Albert  Barnes,  we  have  no  alternative  but  to  proceed 
with  the  exposition. 

"  From  our  view  of  this  subject  in  its  moral  relations,  the  con- 
clusion is,  that  Mr.  Barnes'  conduct  involves  an  offence  of  the 
greatest  magnitude  and  guilt.  The  office  of  a  Christian  minister 
is  the  most  exalted  and  responsible  office  existing  in  this  world. 
Ministers  are  representatives,  '  sub-delegated  messengers,'  of  the 
great  God,  in  lais  dispensation  of  grace.  '  We  are  ambassadors  of 
Christ,'  says  the  great  Aposile;  '  We  pray  you  in  Christ's  stead,' 
&c.  To  this  high  vocation  are  they  appointed,  and  the  Presby- 
tery is  the  divinely  constituted  instrument  to  clothe  them  with  its 
sacred  functions.  Now,  the  whole  transaction,  in  which  candi- 
dates are  received,  and  bound,  and  commissioned  to  this  holy 
service,  has  ever  been  considered  as  partaking  the  nature  and 
sclemnity  of  :v  formal  oath.  The  engagement  being  made  pri- 
marily to  God,  from  whom  proceed  the  office — the  call  to  it — 
and  both  the  power  and  form  of  initiation,  every  candidate  is 
jusily  conceived  to  make  a  solemn  appeal  to  the  searcher  of  hearts 
tor  the  rectitude  and  sincerity  of  his  professions.  Hence  a  vio- 
lation of  this  oath,  in  any  of  its  particulars,  according  to  their 
natural,  obvious,  customary,  and  established  import,  can  justly  be 
viev.'ed  no  otherwise  than  as  an  act  of  perjury ;  especially  must 
this  construction  be  put  upon  the  violation,  if  the  candidate,  by 
subsequent  declarations  and  actions,  refuse  to  correct  his  error, 
and  obstinately  persist  in  a  course  directly  opposed  to  that  clearly 
required  by  his  solemn  vow. 

"•Let  us  bear  the  opinion  of  a  man,  whose  penetration,  purity, 
and  fidelity,  as  a  witness  for  God,  have  been  procraimed  through 
the  world  as  pre-eminently  deserviag  universal  confidence.  '  But, 
for  men,  at  their  entrance  on  the  sacred  office  solemnly  to  sub- 
scribe to  the  truth  of  what,  all  their  lives  after,  they  strive  to  un- 
dermine and  destroy,  is  at  once  sa  criminal  and  absurd,  that  no 
reproof  given  to  it  can  possibly  exceed  in  point  of  severity.  This 
is  so  direct  a  violation  of  sincerity,  that  it  is  astonishing  to  think 
iiow  men  can  set  their  minds  at  ease  in  the  prospect,  or  keep 
them  in  peace  after  the  dehberale  commission  of  it.     The  very 

F 


82  OLD   SCHOOL   VINDICATED. 

excuses  and  evasions  that  are  offered  in  defence  of  it  are  a  dis- 
grace to  reason  as  well  as  a  scandal  to  religion.  What  success 
can  be  expected  from  that  man's  ministry  who  begins  it  with  an 
act  of  so  complicated  guilt  1  How  can  he  take  upon  him  to  re- 
prove others  for  sin,  or  to  train  them  up  in  virtue  and  true  good- 
ness, while  himself  is  chargeable  with  direct,  premeditated  and 
perpetual  perjury  !'* 

"Falsehood  has  been  properly  defined  to  consist  in  'That 
which  deceives  and  disappoints  confidence.'  Perjury  is  of  the 
same  general  nature,  but  inconceivably  aggravated  in  guilt  by  a 
direct  appeal  to  God,  which  involves  an  imprecation  of  his  judg- 
inents  upon  any  thing  deceptive  in  the  engagement  made,  fraudu- 
lent or  unfaithful  in  the  execution  of  it.  These  characteristics 
will  be  found,  on  close  inspection,  applicable  to  the  case  before 
us.  From  his  own  testimony  and  attending  circumstances,  it 
(Cannot  be  doubted  that  Mr.  Barnes  deceived  the  Presbytery  of 
New  Brunswick  at  his  licensure  ;  and  it  is  equally  clear  that  he 
has  disappointed  their  expectations.  The  points  of  greatest  im- 
portance, in  the  obligations  assumed,  on  entering  the  sacred  office, 
are  embraced  in  the  following  questions  :  *  Do  you  sincerely  re- 
ceive and  adopt  the  Confession  of  Faith  of  this  churcii,  as  con- 
taining the  system  of  doctrines  taught  in  the  Holy  Scriptures  ( 
Do  you  promise  to  study  the  peace,  unity,  and  purity  of  the 
church?'  In  all  sound  Presbyteries  these  obligations  have  been 
uniformly  understood  to  imply  the  utmost  singleness  and  sincerity 
of  purpose,  required  also  by  act  of  the  General  Assembly — *  In 
receiving  and  adopting  the  formularies  of  the  church,  according 
to  the  obvious,  known,  and  established  meaning  of  the  terms,  as 
the  Confession  of  their  Faith.^  Our  Confession  itself  demands  the 
engagement  to  be  taken  '  in  the  plain  and  common  sense  of  the 
words,  without  equivocation  or  mental  reservation.'  The  Pres- 
bytery of  New  Brunswick  have  always  acted  in  conformity  with 
these  views ;  the  students  of  the  Seminary,  who  are  generally 
witnesses  of  their  transactions,  and  especially  those  on  trial  be- 
t'ore  them,  could  not  fail  to  be  impressed  with  this  fact — that 
Presbytery  never  conceived  the  thought  that  any  candidate  hari 
presumed  to  stand  before  them  with  any  other  view  ;  in  the  act 
of  licensing  Mr.  Barnes,  as  there  was  no  scruple  stated,  they 
supposed  him  to  be  honestly  receiving  and  adopting  the  Bool;.,  in 
its  known  and  established  import,  as  the  Confession  of  his  Faith, 
Reposing  this  confidence  in  his  supposed  sincerity,  they  commit- 
ted to  him  the  momentous  trust  of  preaching  this  faith  to  dying 
men.  With  astonishment  we  now  learn  from  Mr.  Barnes  him- 
self, that  he  assumed  the  prescribed  obligations  and  trust,  cher- 
ishing, secretly,  reserves,  evasions,  and  designs,  in  direct  confiict 

*  Witherspoon's  works,  Vol.  III.  p.  197. 


OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED.  83 

with  what  the  Presbytery  and  the  church  at  large  understood 
that  solemn  promise  to  import ;  indeed,  entirely  overlooking  and 
renouncing  the  Confession  of  Faith,  both  in  letter  and  in  practi- 
cal effect.  *  The  system  of  doctrines  contained  in  the  standards 
I  received  as  a  system.  I  received  it,  not  indeed  ever  expressing 
my  assent  to  every  expression  and  form  of  expression  ;  but  as  re- 
serving to  myself  the  right  of  examining  the  language,  and  form- 
ing an  opinion  of  its  meaning.'  Language  more  explicit,  testimony 
more  unequivocal  and  irresistible,  to  prove  the  high  immorality  of 
Mr.  Barnes'  conduct  in  this  sacred  transaction,  need  not,  could 
not,  exist. 

"  The  corrupt  and  dangerous  practice  of  signing  creeds  and 
confessions,  for  doctrine  and  for  substance,  with  reserved  rights 
of  construction  and  explanation,  which  the  honest  friends  of  truth 
regard  with  abhorrence,  is  here  practically  introduced,  boldly 
avowed,  audaciously  held  up  as  an  example  in  the  church,  and 
pleaded  as  an  apology  for  this  unparalleled  violation  of  moral 
honesty.  A  most  pertinacious  adherence  to  this  deceptive  course 
is  here  fully  evinced.  'I  have  not  changed  my  views  materially 
since  1  was  licensed  to  preach  the  gospel.'  Again,  he  declares, 
ihat  *  He  held  the  views  expressed  in  these  Notes  at  the  time  of 
his  licensure  and  ordination,  that  he  has  held  and  preached  them 
ten  years.'  Again  :  he  avows  '  His  intention  not  to  be  influenced 
by  regard  to  any  creed  or  Confession  of  Faith:  because  it  is  bis 
deliberate  and  settled  purpose  of  mind ;  the  principle  by  which  he 
expects  always  to  be  governed.'  This  dogmatical,  reiterated,  de- 
liberate, and  determined  rejection  of  our  Confession,  in  the  very 
act  in  which  he  pledged  his  sacred  truth  and  honour,  before  God, 
to  adopt  and  maintain  it,  must  produce  through  our  church  inde- 
scribable emotions. 

"False  speaking  and  false  swearing  are  justly  held  up  for  pub- 
lic execration  by  all  men.  Perjury,  even  where  money,  office, 
or  honour,  is  its  object,  and  where  its  injurious  effects  are  com- 
paratively trivial,  is  exposed  to  punishment  by  fine  or  imprison- 
ment. But  vv^hat  man  or  angel  can  calculate  the  guilt  of  treach- 
ery in  an  ambassador  of  Christ  i  It  may  be  estimated  in  some 
small  measure  by  considering  the  extent  of  a  minister's  obliga- 
tions to  God,  to  the  Presbytery,  to  the  church,  and  to  the  souls  of 
men.  As  these  obligations  are  manifold  and  weighty,  a  violation 
of  them  must  incur  complicate  and  awful  guilt.  It  is  a  most  ag- 
gravating circumstance  in  Mr.  Barnes'  course,  that  he  is  persist- 
iug,  against  the  warnings  and  entreaties  of  years  past,  and  pur- 
suing an  object  of  the  greatest  enormity,  the  perversion  of  the 
truth  of  God  and  the  ruin  of  his  church. 

"If  this  dishonest  system  should  be  sustained,  and  become  the 
law  of  the  church,  it  is  evident  that  every  licensure  and  ordination 


84  OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED. 

in  our  land  may  become  an  inlet  to  some  new  form  or  grade  of 
heresy,  under  the  impenetrable  and  imposing  guise  of  reserves  and 
explanations.  It  surely  needs  no  v^^ords  to  show  how  well  adapted 
Mr.  Barnes'  model  will  be,  to  lead  candidates  of  his  non-committal 
and  inventive  cast,  completely  to  evade  every  constitutional  guard 
against  error,  and  to  import  into  the  church  every  abomination. 
Hitherto  it  has  been  considered  the  duty  of  candidates,  before  ad- 
mission, after  or  during  a  thorough  course  of  theological  reading, 
to  inspect  our  Book  of  Faith,  ponder  its  sacred  contents,  and 
decide  upon  their  character;,  that  they  may  act  intelligently  and 
sincerely,  if  at  all,  in  assuming  its  obligations  and  avowing  its 
principles;  but  a  new  meihod  of  procedure  is  now  exhibited,  to 
swear  to  the  Bookers/  as  a  Confession  of  Faith,  and  examine  its 
language  afterwards  to  form  an  opinion  of  its  meaning ! 

"  It  is  now  a  very  serious  inquiry  in  what  light  the  advocates 
of  Mr.  Barnes  are  to  be  viewed.  Possessing,  we  have  no  doubt,. 
much  more  accurate  knowledge  on  this  point  than  we  can  claim, 
his  assertion  is  not  to  be  passed  lightly  over  'that  he  holds  the 
opinions  here  in  question,  in  common  with  no  small  part  of  the 
more  than  two  thousand  ministers  in  our  connexion.'  This  ap- 
pears to  us  unquestionable,  that,  if  they  entered  our  church  with 
any  other  view  than  that  of  honest  com]:)liance  with  the  spirit  of 
their  ordination  vow  and  strict  conformity  to  the  letter  of  our 
church  staadards,  they  committed  a  profane  and  criminal  viola- 
tion of  the  most  solemn  oath  ever  administered  to  man ;  and  if 
they  continue  in  our  church,  as  Mr.  Barnes  does,,  in  open  conflict 
with  the  pledge  they  gave  and  the  standards  they  voluntarily  as- 
sumed, theii'  public  ministry  and  their  whole  life  is  a  constant  re- 
petition and  aggravation  of  the  most  criminal  act  ever  perpetrated 
in  this  world.  And  whatever  may  have  been  at  first  their  princi- 
ple of  action  and  m^ode  of  introduction,  their  vindicating  a  man 
who  not  only  holds  heretical  opinions,  corrupting  to  the  Church  of 
Christ,  but  assumes  and  exercises  rights  directly  subversive  of 
that  branch  of  his  church  which  they  have  sworn  to  protect  and 
advance,  they  are  undoubtedly  to  be  considered  abettors  of  heresy,, 
instigators  and  promoters  of  consummate  mischief  to  Zion,  and 
are  justly  held  accountable  to  God  and  to  his  church  for  all  the 
corruption  and  confusion  produced  by  their  unfiiithful  course. 

"To  the  great  body  of  candid  and  reflecting  men  of  all  denom- 
inations, the  wonder  constantly  is,  why  Mr.  Barnes  and  those  of 
his  class,  most  manifestly  and  radically  differing  from  the  stand- 
ards of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  pertinaciously  pursuing  mea- 
sures which  produce  incessant  discord,  which  rend  congregations, 
church  judicatories,  missionary  societies,  benevolent  institutions, 
which  subject  large  sections  of  our  church  and  country  to  painful 
conflicts,,  keep  the  public  mind  unceasingly  agiitated  with  feiid& 


OLD   SCHOOL   VINDICATED.  88 

arid  aniinosilies:;  the  wonder  is,  why  they  should  wish  to  remain 
for  an  hour  in  connexion  with  this  church.  It  is  perfectly  plain, 
that  if  their  uncandid,  inconsistent,  and  offensive  action  and  influ- 
ence were  removed  from  the  Presbyterian  body,  all  would  be 
peaceful,  prosperous,  and  happy,  within  her  bosom.  No  difficulty, 
no  evils  of  any  magnitude,  have  afflicted  the  church  for  many 
years  not  justly  ascribable  to  the  influence  of  New  England  men, 
New  School  principles,  and  sympathies  for  them.  How  prepos- 
terous and  how  criminal  is  it  for  men  to  insist  on  wearing  the 
name  of  Presbyterians,  when  their  hearts  are  opposed  to  Presby- 
terianism,  at  enmity  with  its  peculiar  and  essential  doctrines  and 
forms !  Why  do  they  not  retire  from  the  Presbyterian  Church  and 
erect  an  independent  standard,  where  they  can  enjoy,  unmolested 
and  without  giving  offence,  the  anomalies  they  so  much  covet, 
without  cherishing  wiles  and  creating  conflicts,  perpetual  in  their 
character,  painful  to  all,  wounding  to  the  church,  offensive  to  God, 
chilling  to  devotion,  and  paralyzing  to  the  noblest  energies  and 
interests  of  Zion?  If  they  have  no  regard  for  truth  and  consist- 
ency, no  concern  for  the  comfort  of  the  great  body  of  ministers, 
and  elders,  and  people,  whoin  they  continually  disturb  and  pain, 
for  the  sake  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  who  loves,  inculcates,  and 
enjoins /)eace,  let  them  and  their  adherents  withdraw,  that  the  land 
may  have  rest  and  Zion  throw  off  her  sackcloth.  The  land  is 
wide  enough  for  them  and  for  us.  They  have  congregations, 
schools,  colleges,  seminaries,  societies  of  every  name,  sufficient  to 
make  them  respectable  in  numbers  and  strength.  Thus  sepa- 
rated by  a  voluntary  and  amicable  recession  from  a  church  into 
which  they  have  dishonestly  intruded  and  continued,  only  to 
weaken  and  destroy  it ;  whose  interests  they  never  intended  to 
promote;  and  whose  honest  and  faithful  members  never  can  and 
never  will  unresistingly  tolerate  their  wicked  abuse  of  her  insti- 
tutions, and  corruption  of  her  faith  and  purity;  thus  separated,  the 
fruits  of  the  Spirit  may  again  be  hailed  among  us ;  and  they  may, 
with  some  appearance  of  consistency  and  honour,  escape  from  the 
guilt  and  obloquy  which  in  this  connection,  must  for  ever  accu- 
mulate and  rest  upon  them. 

"  If  the  hope  of  plunder  keeps  them  back  from  separation — the 
only  honourable  escape  from  their  present  ignominious  and  self- 
condemned  position — let  me  tell  them  that  such  a  hope  is  des- 
perate. No;  let  not  this  detain  them.  The  adjudications  of  the 
highest  tribunals,  both  of  Europe  and  America,  have  recently 
confirmed  the  dictates  of  common  sense  and  sound  equity,  by  re- 
peated declarations  that  the  faith  of  a  church  constitutes  her  being, 
decides  her  character,  establishes  her  rights,  and  secures  her 
property.  The  apostacy  of  the  New  School  from  the  Confession 
of  Faith  is  now  as  clearly  ascertained  as  it  can  be,  both  by  their 


^ 


T^f 


86  OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED. 


language  and  their  actions.  Their  heresy  has  gone  abroad,  writ- 
ten as  with  sunbeams,  to  the  ends  of  the  earth.  The  stand  taken 
and  the  course  pursued  by  the  minority  in  the  Assembly  of  1834,, 
were  designed  to  produce  tiiis  result.  Subsequent  events  have 
completed  the  development,  a  development  which  cannot  fail  to 
prove  an  impregnable  panoply  for  the  uncorrupted  church  against 
any  and  every  assault  of  art  or  violence  which  the  great  King  of 
Zion  may  permit.  The  prospect  of  additional  '  loaves  and  fishes,' 
from  the  orthodox  body,  by  any  other  process  than  insidious  and 
meddlesome  gleaning,  is  too  dubious  to  recompense  the  sacrifice 
of  public  good,  and  of  individual  character,  consequent  upon  a 
farther  continuance  in  this  uncongenial  connexion,  and  prosecu- 
tion of  measures  so  productive  of  bitterness,  so  disgraceful  to  rea- 
son, and  so  scandalous  to  the  Christian  name. 

"From  such  instances  of  insincerity  and  immorality  in  the 
ministers  of  religion,  a  withering  eflect  must  be  expected  to  de- 
scend upon  the  pious  afiections  of  the  great  body  of  Christian 
people,  who  are  themselves  astonished  and  mourning  spectators 
of  tills  solemn  mockery,  this  afiecting  insensibility  to  crime  and 
guilt,  in  those  who  serve  at  the  altar,  and  who  should,  by  lives  of  5-/»i- 
plicittj  and  Godhj  sincerity,  lead  the  way  to  heaven.  Need  we 
inquire  why  religion  languishes  and  the  ways  of  Zion  mourn? 
Can  we  be  at  a  loss  to  understand  why  the  Most  High  has  with- 
drawn his  blessed  spirit  from  his  church  below  i  Can  we  reason- 
ably expect  in  general  through  the  church,  those  seasons  of  genu- 
ine awakening  and  revival,  which  have  happily  distinguished 
former  days,  while  the  truth  of  God  is  corruptly  preached;  while 
Christ  and  his  righteousness  are  openly  made  light  of;  and  the 
essential  principles  of  his  gospel  contravened;  while  there  is  visi- 
ble, under  so  many  symptoms  of  favour,  a  combined  movement 
in  the  citadel  of  the  church  to  screen  the  propagators  of  heresy, 
insulting  to  heaven  and  damning  to  souls?  Indeed,  should  not  the 
cold  inaction  of  many  true  friends  of  gospel  truth,  the  indecision 
of  others,  and  the  tardiness  with  which  many  advance  to  the  help 
of  the  Lord,  be  considered  deeply  oflensive  in  his  holy  sight;  suf- 
ficient to  bring  down  the  rebuke  of  a  frigid  winter  or  a  dreary 
night  upon  regions  recently  rejoicing  in  the  sunshine  of  spiritual 
day?  Besides,  have  not  the  intestine  wars  and  confusions  en- 
kindled by  the  invaders  of  our  peaceful  church  struck  alarm 
through  all  our  borders,  and  driven  many  faithful  laborers  from 
the  direct  care  of  souls  and  dissemination  of  truth,  to  the  painful 
work  of  defence  against  troops  of  ambushed  and  open  foes  ? 

"  It  is  an  inquiry,  also,  of  absorbing  interest,  what  is  to  be  the 
influence  of  this  public  profanation  of  oaths  by  the  professed  minis- 
ters of  Jesus  Christ,  on  the  morals  of  society  in  general.  We  ap- 
prehend the  most  deleterious  eflects.    That  the  continuance  of 


OLD   SCHOOL    VINDICATED.  87 

this  system  of  equivocation  and  subterfuge,  in  a  matter  so  sacred, 
will  operate  witii  a  paralyzing  influence  on  tiie  moral  perceptions 
and  sensibilities  of  the  perpetrators  themselves,  is  too  clear  to  be 
doubted.  Indeed,  we  are  much  mistaken,  in  a  matter,  too,  where 
we  would  gladly  find  ourselves  in  error,  if  practical  indications 
of  a  decisive  and  alarming  character  have  not  already  been  given, 
in  many  instances,  of  the  deplorable  truth  of  these  apprehensions. 
The  Argus  eyes  of  the  unholy  multitude  are  ever  placed  with  in- 
vidious scrutiny  on  the  vestments  of  the  holy  order.  A  spot  dis- 
covered in  their  lawn  will  produce  a  shout  of  unhallowed  satis- 
faction through  all  the  camp  of  the  enemy.  And  though  it  is 
hard  to  induce  any  of  their  company  to  follow  a  step  in  the  pro- 
gress of  holy  virtue,  yet  the  slightest  signal  will  prompt  a  host  to 
triumphant  emulation  in  the  career  of  profligacy  and  guilt.  In 
vain  shall  we  deplore  the  general  relaxation  of  public  morals,  re- 
prove the  general  violation  of  truth  and  profanation  of  oaths,  and 
the  light  esteem  of  every  thing  sacred,  among  the  common  orders, 
while  so  large  a  number  of  the  consecrated  teachers  and  defend- 
ers of  pure  morality,  by  violating  their  most  sacred  engagements, 
and  leagueing  together  to  screen  transgressors,  enable  the  multi- 
tude, with  just  reproach  and  biting  sarcasm,  to  retort, '  Thou  that 
teachest  another,  teachest  thou  not  thyself?  Thou  that  abhorrest 
idols,  dost  thou  commit  sacrilege?  Thou  that  makest  thy  hoa$t 
of  the  law,  through  breaking  the  law  dishonorest  thou  God  V 
Rom.  xvi.,  21,  23." 

At  the  opening  of  the  momentous  Assembly,  May  lolh,  1834, 
in  the  city  of  Philadelphia,  it  was  soon  discovered  that  the  church 
was  in  the  hands  of  her  adversary — the  New  School  faction 
having  a  large  majority.  As  the  unscrupulous  designs  of  the  as- 
sailants became  sufficiently  developed,  it  could  no  longer  be 
doubted,  that  every  thing  in  the  church,  dear  to  sound  Presbyte- 
rians, was  in  jeopardy.  The  numerical  majority  of  the  New 
School,  in  this  Assembly,  varied  upon  .the  test  questions  occur- 
ring daily,  from  fifteen  to  sixty  votes.  As  several  of  the  most 
important  subjects,  in  connexion  with  which  the  unsoundness  of 
this  majority  disclosed  itself,  will  come  under  review  in  other 
parts  of  this  work,  we  shall  here  restrict  the  reader's  attention  to 
this  Assembly's  action  on  the  Western  Memorial,  to  portions  o( 
which  impressive  document  reference  has  already  been  made. 

And  here,  as  the  best  exposition  of  their  insidious  attempts  to 
screen  from  deserved  correction  the  defaults  of  church  judicato- 
ries, which  they  had  previously  converted  into  machines  to  ac- 
complish their  purposes  ;  to  throw  the  mantle  of  concealment  or 
protection  over  the  busy  infecters  of  our  ecclesiastical  body  ;  to 
continue  in  operation  the  Plan  of  Union  of  1801,  as  the  prolific 
inlet  of  those  vitiating  influences  which  had  long  been  coming  in 


88  OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED. 

iike  a  flood  ;  and  in  fact  to  refuse,  by  evasions,  denials  and  arts, 
all  reasonable  and  salutary  remedies  for  the  mischiefs  which  were 
most  manifestly  shaking  the  Presbyterian  Church  to  its  centre, 
we  shall  transfer  to  these  sheets  their  several  resolutions  on  the 
Western  Memorial,  and  other  important  subjects. 

The  first  irregular  and  pernicious  measure  of  this  Assembly, 
was  that  of  sustaining  the  complaint  and  appeal  of  the  Assembly's 
Second  Presbytery  of  Philadelphia  against  the  Synod.  The  his- 
tory of  the  case  is  in  few  words.  In  1832,  the  General  Assem- 
bly constituted  the  Second  Presbytery  of  Philadelphia,  witiiin  the 
bounds  of  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia,  and  without  her  consent. 
The  Synod,  considering  their  constitutional  rights  invaded  by 
that  act,  dissolved  the  Second  Presbytery  of  Philadelphia.  The 
Presbytery  complained  and  appealed  to  the  General  Assembly  of 
1834,  against  the  act  of  the  Synod.  The  General  Assembly  sus- 
tained the  complaint  and  appeal  of  the  Second  Presbytery. 
Against  this  act  of  the  Assembly  of  1834,  a  protest  was  entered 
and  recorded  on  their  minutes,  page  32,  We  transfer  to  these* 
pages  only  the  second  objection  to  the  Assembly's  action,  con- 
tained in  the  protest,  viz:  "While  we  disapprove  the  act  per- 
i'ormed  by  the  Assembly  as  being  unconstitutional,  we  solemnly 
protest  against  the  practice,  whether  by  the  Assembly  or  Synods, 
of  forming  Presbyteries  on  the  principle  of  elective  affinity,  dis- 
tinctly avowed  and  recognized  as  the  basis  of  this  act,  being  fully 
persuaded  that  the  tendency  of  this  principle  will  be  to  impair  the 
standards  of  our  church,  to  open  a  door  to  error,  and  to  violate 
the  purity,  good  order,  and  peace  of  the  church." 

Such  deviations  as  are  clearly  discoverable  in  the  acts  of  the 
Assembly,  from  constitutional  law  and  sound  discretion  and  usage 
in  the  church,  unsettle  all  principle,  disturb  order,  and  destroy 
confidence.  Whatever  may  be  the  object,  these  are  the  fruits. 
But  in  the  formation  of  the  Second  Presbytery  of  Philadelphia, 
the  New  School  majority  in  the  Assembly  of  1832  manifestly  had 
a  particular  object  in  view.  Their  predominating  motive  was  to 
provide  a  safe  retreat  for  Albert  Barnes,  who  was  in  difficulty  on 
account  of  his  heretical  opinions,  published  in  his  sermon  on  the 
Way  of  Salvation.  By  placing  together,  in  one  Presbytery,  a 
company  of  men  embracing  the  same  errors,  and  pursuing  the 
same  course  of  misrule  in  church  government,  they  could  employ 
their  power,  their  prejudices,  and  corruptions,  to  propagate  their 
false  notions  in  theology,  and  screen  their  infecting  and  disorgan- 
izing policy  from  church  censure.  To  designate  this  spurious 
mass,  they  gave  to  them  the  brief  but  expressive  name  of  elective 
affinity,  because  they  were  selected  and  associated  in  one  Pres- 
bytery, for  the  very  reason  that  they  were  all  alike  unsound,  and 
thus  adapted  to  diffuse  New  School  infection  in  any  region  or  in 


^ 


■OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED.  89 

^ny  manner  proposed.  On  this  account,  the  orthodox  protested 
against  the  elective  affinity  principle  and  organization  ahogether, 
as  menacing  the  purity  and  peace  of  the  church. 

The  Assembly  of  1834  was  not,  as  former  Assemblies,  a  timid, 
temporising  body ;  they  were  cunning,  but  not  cautious.  Con- 
fiding in  their  strength,  and  flushed  with  apparent  success,  as  was 
visible  on  the  roll  and  minutes  of  the  House,  and  relying  upon  the 
sympathy  of  many  who  had  been,  or  wished  to  be,  counted  lead- 
ers of  the  Old  School,  they  played  a  lofty  and  decisive  game. 
But  their  movements  were  precipitate  and  reckless;  estimating 
the  paucity  of  Old  School  representation  in  the  House  as  evidence 
of  apathy  among  the  people,  or  incipient  abandonment  of  old- 
fashioned,  honest  Presbyterlanism,  they  passed  acts  substantially 
broaching  false  doctrines,  tallying  with  the  false  books  many  of 
them  had  already  for  sale  in  the  market.  But  they  discovered  in 
a  few  months,  that  their  majority  in  the  Assembly  of  1834,  was, 
in  many  instances,  the  result  of  neglect  and  thoughtless  inditVer- 
ence  on  the  part  of  sound  Presbyterians,  in  selecting  delegates  to 
the  Assembly,  Their  qualifications,  in  many  cases,  had  not  been 
carefully  estimated  in  the  choice.  Some  were  preferred  on  their 
own  solicitaiion.  Many  others  had  sought  the  delegation  lor 
purposes  of  business,  of  I'.ealth,  or  of  pleasure. 

The  Memorial  from  Western  Presbyteries  and  elders,  as  soon 
as  announced  to  the  Assembly,  was  realized  by  all  present  as  a 
very  impressive  document,  and  its  influence  upon  the  New  School 
party  was  agitating  and  confounding.  To  break  its  force,  if  pos- 
sible, required  all  their  art.  Their  first  effort,  before  it  was  read 
as  is  customary  on  such  occasions,  was  to  appoint  as  imposing  a 
committee  as  they  could  raise,  to  mutilate  and  pervert  the  docu- 
ment, and  piecemeal  to  paralyze  its  power.  The  individuals  se- 
lected for  this  service  were  well  adapted  to  the  purpose,  consisting 
of  experienced  leaders  on  the  one  hand,  and,  on  the  other,  of  raw 
recruits,  sure  to  follow  the  dictates  of  their  masters. 

From  this  Memorial,  showing  the  state  of  the  Western  Church, 
and  furnishing  a  large  amount  of  important  intelligence  on  this 
subject,  we  present  the  following  extracts,  viz: 

"MEMORIAL. 

'■'  To  the  Moderator  and  Members  of  the  General  Assembly  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States,  to  meet  in  the  city 
of  Philadelphia,  May  loth,  1834. 

"Reverend  Fathers  and  Brethren: — We,  the  subscribers, 
feel  alarmed  at  the  evidences  which  press  upon  us,  of  the  preva- 
lence of  unsoundness  in  doctrine  and  laxity  in  discipline;  and  we 
view  it  as  an  aggravating  consideration,  that  the  General  As- 
sembly, the  constitutional  guardian  of  the  church's  purity,  even 


70' 


90  ^  OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED. 


when  a  knowledge  of  such  evils  has  been  brought  before  it  in  an 
orderly  manner,  has,  within  these  few  years  past,  either  directly 
or  indirectly,  refused  to  apply  the  constitutional  remedy.  Ap- 
peals, references,  complaints,  and  memorials,  from  individuals, 
Presbyteries,  and  Synods,  have  been  dismissed  on  some  slight 
grounds,  perhaps  not  noticed  at  all,  or  merged  in  some  compro- 
mise which  aggravated  the  evils  intended  to  be  removed. 

"That  we  may  not  be  misunderstood,  we  premise  here,  our 
free,  admission  that  some  of  the  measures  about  to  be  complained 
of,  were  adopted  at  the  time,  with  the  best  intentions,  and  if  the 
results  could  have  been  foreseen  by  the  authors  of  those  measures, 
they  would  never  have  been  carried  into  eflect. 

"  1.  We  believe  this  to  have  been  particularly  the  case  with 
regard  to  the  '  Plan  of  Union'  with  Congregational  Churches, 
adopted  in  1801.  A  careful  comparison  of  that  plan  (see  Digest 
297,)  with  the  constitution  of  our  church,  will  make  it  evident 
that  the  General  Assembly  of  1801,  in  adopting  it,  assumed  power 
nowhere  assigned  to  them  in  the  constitution.  They  established 
an  ecclesiastical  tribunal  for  the  government  of  a  part  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church,  such  as  is  not  acknowledged  by  the  consti- 
tution, and  is  plainly  repugnant  to  it.  We  allude  to  the  'JMutual 
Council,'  recognized  in  that  Plan.  In  the  same  act,  the  Assembly 
also  granted  tlie  powers  and  privileges  to  '  committee-men,'  which 
was  contrary  both  to  the  letter  and  spirit  of  the  constitution,  &ic. 

"  Closely  connected  with  the  influence  of  Congregational  prin- 
ciples and  prepossessions,  introduced  gradually  into  our  church 
through  the  Plan  of  Union  of  1801,  we  regard  the  existence  of  a 
sentiment  now  avowed  by  numbers  who  bear  the  Presbyterian 
name,  that  every  man,  in  professing  to  receive  and  adopt  our 
ecclesiastical  formularies,  has  a  right  to  put  thereon  his  own  con- 
sfruclion,  without  being  responsible  for  the  construction  or  the 
character  of  his  explanations.  They  who  hold  this  principle, 
practice  accordingly,  and  thus  an  unnatural  mixture  of  conflicting 
elements  is  brought  into  the  bosom  of  the  church,  unfavourable 
alike  to  its  purity  and  peace. 

"  We  next  notice  another  course  of  unconstitutional  proceed- 
ings, which  adds  to  the  evils  that  now  alflict  us.  We  refer  to 
the  practice  of  Presbyteries,  in  ordaining  men,  sine  tilulo,  to 
y)reach  and  administer  the  ordinances  of  the  gospel  in  other  parts 
of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  where  Presbyteries  already  exist  and 
are  ready  to  perform  their  constitutional  functions  as  the  necessi- 
ties of  the  churches  under  their  care  require.  There  is  also  just 
ground  to  suspect,  that  in  many  cases  of  such  ordination,  it  is 
done  to  suit  the  convenience  of  men  who  are  not  prepared  to  pass 
through  the  constitutional  ordeal,  when  applied  by  those  Presby- 
teries within  whose  bounds  they  expect  to  labor,  either  on  ac- 


^ 


OLD   SCHOOL    VINDICATED.  &1 


count  of  their  lack  of  ministerial  furniture,  or  because  they  do  not 
cordially  receive  either  our  creed  or  form  of  government;  hence 
they  prefer  to  receive  licensure  and  ordination  in  such  Presbyte- 
ries as  are  known,  or  supposed  to  be,  not  particular  on  these 
points. 

"Especially  do  we  complain  of,  and  testify  against,  what  has 
more  than  once  occurred  during  the  last  few  years — the  ordain- 
ing of  six,  eight,  or  ten  young  men  at  a  time,  most  of  them  just 
licensed,  who  have  been  reared,  up  from  infancy  to  manhood,  in 
Congregational  views,  feelings,  and  habits,  and  who  are  thus  sud- 
denly, nominally  and  geographicolly,  converted  into  Presbyterian 
niinisters,  before  it  was  possible,  in  the  nature  of  things,  that  they 
could  have  just  and  clear  views  of  the  nature  of  Presbyterianism. 
For  where  could  they  acquire  them  ?  Certainly  not  in  the  Con- 
gregational Churches,  in  which  they  were  trained  up;  and  not  in 
Congregational  Theological  Schools;  for  in  them,  no  provision  is 
made  for  expounding  the  doctrines  of  the  Presbyterian  Confession 
o{  Faith  and  form  of  government.  The  fact  is,  that  every  year, 
numbers  of  these  Congregationalists  come  directly  into  Presbyte- 
ries and  Presbyterian  Churches  in  the  West,  with  certificates  of 
their  standing  as  ministers  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  while  in 
many  instances  it  is  evident  that  they  are  almost  entire  strangers 
to  that  Confession  of  Faith,  which,  unless  their  certificates  be  an 
imposition,  they  must,  in  the  most  solemn  manner,  have  '  received 
and  adopted'  as  their  Confession  of  Faith.  Among  the  many 
references  which  might  be  made  in  illustration  of  the  justice  of 
our  representations  under  this  head,  we  point  only  to  the  instances 
afibrded  by  the  Newburyport  Presbytery  and  the  third  Presbyterv 
of  New  York  ;  the  former  of  which,  a  few  years  ago,  ordained 
nine  young  men  at  one  time,  as  evangelists  for  the  A.  Home 
JMissionary  Society,  six  or  seven  of  whom,  were,  in  a  short  time, 
located  in  Ohio,  in  which  state  there  were,  at  that  time,  fourteen 
Presbyteries,  exercising  ecclesiastical  jurisdiction.  The  latter 
Presbytery,  in  the  fall  of  1S31,  ordained  ten  young  men  at  one 
time,  lor  the  A.  Home  Missionary  Society,  most  of  whom  were 
sent  directly  into  the  bounds  of  Presbyteries  in  the  West. 

"The  same  Presbytery,  (New  York,)  in  1832,  received  the 
Rev.  L.  Beecher,  D.  D.,  from  a  Congregational  Association,  and 
forthwith,  at  the  same  meeting,  dismissed  him  to  join  the  Presby- 
tery of  Cincinnati,  to  which  place  he  was  journeying,  to  take 
charge  of  Lane  Seminary,  upon  condition  that  he  should  be  ac- 
knowledged as  a  minister  of  the  Presbyterian  Church.  The  third 
Presbytery  of  New  York  did  this,  without  his  personally  appear- 
ing before  them,  and  upon  his  written  request  simply,  although 
they  knew,  at  the  time  they  received  him  in  this  manner,  that  he 
was  not  to  be  a  day  related  to  them  as  a  co-Presbyter,  and 


92  OLD   SCHOOL    VINDICATED. 

although  they  were  well  aware  of  the  existence  of  the  Cincinnati 
Presbytery,  in  connexion  with  which  Dr.  Beecher  intended  to 
labor,  and  to  which,  of  right,  and  according  to  all  propriety,  his 
credentials  should  have  been  primarily  submitted. 

"  We  ascribe  to  the  principles  of  independency,  introduced 
through  the  medium  of  the  compact  already  noticed,  another  de- 
parture of  the  General  Assembly  fiom  the  due  discharge  of  its  own 
constitutional  duties  ;  j^rs^  in  conniving  at  dku  irresponsible,  vol- 
untary association,  in  assuming,  to  a  great  extent,  the  manage- 
ment of  domestic  missions  within  the  Presbyterian  Church  ;  and 
secondly,  in  that,  when  the  General  Assembly  had  become  con- 
vinced of  the  duty  of  giving  increased  energy  to  the  exercise  of 
their  appropriate  functions  in  this  matter,  nevertheless,  they  not 
merely  connived  at  the  continued  exercise  of  the  powers  which 
the  A.  Home  Missionary  Society  had  usurped,  but  actually  en- 
covraged  them  by  a  recommendation  in  1829,  a  measure  which, 
at  the  time,  deceived  many  Piesbyterians  as  to  the  nature  of  that 
institution,  inducing  a  belief  that  its  operations  and  influence  were 
compatible  both  with  the  constitution  and  interests  of  the  Presby- 
terian Church.  By  these  means,  distractions  and  divisions  within 
the  churcli  were  greatly  increased,  &c. 

"  We  do  not  hesitate  to  declare  it  as  our  decided  opinion,  that 
every  minister  or  licentiate  labouring  as  a  missionary  in  any  part 
of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  ought  to  be  there  only  as  commis- 
sioned by  the  General  Assembly  or  some  of  its  constitutional  or- 
gans, directly  amenable  thereto,  and  to  which  alone  he  should 
report  his  labours,  let  his  compensation  come  from  what  quarter 
it  may.  The  church  ought  to  do  her  own  work,  and  by  her  own 
functionaries;  otherwise,  she  puts  herself  at  least  under  the  indi- 
rect intiuence  of  tliose  who  do  her  work. 

"It  is  in  the  very  nature  of  things,  that  the  missionaries  com- 
inissioned  and  compensated  by,  and  amenable  and  reporting  to,  a 
society  independent  of  the  church,  should  be  under  an  influence 
from  that  society  greater  than  that  of  the  church  whose  ministers 
they  profess  to  be;  and  this  influence  will  extend  to  the  particular 
churches  aided,  and  even  to  the  Presbytery  within  whose  limits 
this  irresponsible  society  thus  operates.  The  influence  is  not  the 
less  real  and  powerful  because  it  may  not  be  seen ;  it  is  felt  and 
is  effective,  and  probably  the  more  so  because  it  operates  unseen. 
Any  person  who  has  attentively  noticed  the  course  of  things  in 
the  Presbyterian  Church  for  the  last  five  years,  can  be  under  no 
mistake  as  to  the  fact  that  the  A.  Home  Missionary  Society 
exercises  a  patronage  within  that  church  detrimental  to  her  true 
interests,  and  subversive  of  her  whole  system.  Without  detailing, 
&c.,  we  simply  state,  that  for  these  four  or  five  years,  the  mis- 
sionaries and  agents  of  the  A.  Home  Missionary  Society,  and 


4- 


OlD    SCHOOL   VINDICATED.  93 

those  known  to  be  the  exclusive  adherents  of  that  inslhution^ 
have,  wiih  very  few  exceptions,  voted  and  acted  in  a  way  to 
favor  innovation  and  disorder  in  the  church.  Witness  the  argu- 
ments and  votes  in  1828,  against  re-organizing  the  Assembly's 
Board  of  Missions  upon  a  more  efficient  plan ;  the  bitter  and  ve- 
hement attack  upon  the  report  of  the  Assembly's  Board,  in  1829;. 
the  arguments  and  votes  for  several  consecutive  years  on  the 
subject  of  committee-men ;  the  discussions  and  votes,  in  1831,  on 
the  Barnes  case;  on  the  report  of  the  Assembly's  Board  for  that 
year;  and  on  the  election  of  a  new  Board. 

''Again :  let  it  be  well  observed,  that  the  A.  Home  JMissionary 
Society  commissions,  in  its  own  name  and  by  its  own  authority,, 
men,  nominally  Presbyterian,  it  is  true^  to  officiate  in  various 
parts 'of  the  Presbyterian  Church,,  under  responsibility  to  that  in- 
stitution; and,  in  a  number  of  instances^  these  men  are  found  la- 
bouring for  months  within  the  limits  of  some  Presbytery,  without 
having  put  themselves  under  its  care.  Now,  such  conduct,  in  a 
co-ordinate  Presbytery,  would  be  unconstitutional  and  liable  to 
censure.    See  Gov.,  ch.  18,  Digest,  p.  60,  &c. 

•'  These  relaxing  principles  and  measures  are  undermining  the 
stability  of  our  Zion.  To  understand  the  nature  and  infiuenre 
of  these  relaxing  principles,  let  the  proceedings  of  the  Assembly 
in  1831,  in  the  Barnes  case,  be  contrasted  with  the  proceedings 
of  former  Assemblies,  in  the  cases  of  Mr,  Baich,  1798,  and  of  Mr. 
Davis,  in  1810.  See  Digest,  pp.  129,  134,  144,  148,  and  the  Mi- 
nutes of  1831  for  Barnes.  In  Balch's  case,  he  was  required  to 
renounce  the  errors  charged  upon  him,  besides  acknowledging 
his  fault  in  publishing  them  at  aM.  In  the  result,  Davis  was  de- 
posed. 

"  But  what  a  marked  declension  in  the  conduct  of  the  General 
Assembly  in  1831.  When  Barnes'  case  was  referred  by  the 
Presbytery  to  the  General  Assembly,  they  evaded  a  decision  of 
the  question  upon  its  doctrinal  merits,,  and  smothered  the  charac- 
ter and  claims  of  the  truth  in  their  well  known  compromise. 

"la  conclusion,,  we  remonstrate  and  testify  against  the  follow- 
ing errors,  which  are  held  and  taught  in  the  Presbyterian  Church, 
and  vtfhich  the  General  Assembly  are  constitutionally  Gompetent 
and  obligated  to  suppress: 

"1st  error.  That  Adam  was  not  the  cov't  head  or  federal'  repre- 
sentative of  his  posterity. 

"  2.  That  we  have  nothing  to  do  with  the  first  sin  of  Adam. 

"3.  That  infants  have  no  moral  character. 

"4.  That  all  sin  consists  in  voluntary  acts  or  exercises. 

"  5.  That  man  in  his  fallen  state  is  possessed  of  entire  ability  to 
do  whatever  God  requires  him  to  do. 


94  OLD    SCHOOL    VINDTCATED. 

"6.  That  regeneration  is  essentially  a  voluntary  change  which 
the  soul  is  active  in  producing. 

"7.  That  Christ  did  not  become  the  legal  substitute  of  sinners- 
"  8.  That  the  atonement  is  merely  an  exhibition  of  the  wrath  of 
God  against  sin — an  expedient  for  enabling  God  to  forgive  it. 

"  9.  That  the  atonement  is  general,  made  for  all  men  alike," 
&c.,  &c. 

The  committee  on  the  Memorial  reported  as  follows : 
"  Your  committee,  after  the  most  careful  investigation  and  ma- 
ture deliberation  that  they  could  bestow  on  the  subject,  have  con- 
curred in  the  following  resolutions,  which  they  recommend  for 
the  adoption  of  this  Assembly,  viz..  Resolved, 

1.  That  this  Assembly  cannot  sanction  the  censure  contained 
in  the  Memorial,  against  the  proceedings  and  measures  of  former 
General  Assemblies. 

2.  That  it  is  deemed  inexpedient  and  undesirable  to  abrogate 
or  interfere  with  the  Plan  of  Union  between  Presbyterians  and 
Congregationalists  in  the  new  settlements,  adopted  in  1801. 

3.  That  the  previous  action  of  the  present  Assembly  on  the 
subject  of  ordaining  men,  is  deemed  sufficient. 

4.  That  the  duty  of  licensing  and  ordaining  men  to  the  office 
of  the  gospel  ministry,  and  of  guarding  tiiat  office  against  the  in- 
trusion of  men  who  are  unqualified  to  discharge  its  solemn  and 
responsible  duties,  or  who  are  unsound  in  the  faith,  is  committed 
to  the  Presbyteries,  and  should  any  already  in  that  oifice  be 
known  to  b.e  fundamentally  erroneous  in  doctrine,  it  is  not  only 
the  privilege,  but  the  duty,  of  Presbyteries,  constitutionally  to  ar- 
raign, condemn,  and  depose  them. 

5.  That  this  Assembly  bears  solemn  testimony  against  publish- 
ing to  the  world  ministers  of  good  and  regular  standing,  as  heret- 
ical and  dangerous,  without  having  been  constitutionally  tried 
and  condemned,  thereby  greatly  liindering  their  usefulness  as 
ministers  of  Jesus  Christ.  Our  excellent  constitution  makes  am- 
ple provision  for  redressing  all  such  grievances;  and  this  Assem- 
bly enjoins,  in  all  cases,  a  faithful  compliance,  in  meekness  and 
brotherly  love,  with  its  requisitions;  having  at  all  times  a  sound 
regard  to  the  purity,  peace,  and  prosperity  of  the  church. 

6.  That  this  Assembly  hove  no  authority  for  establishing  any 
exclusive  mode  of  conducting  missions:  but  while  this  matter  is 
left  to  the  discretion  of  individuals  and  inferior  judicatories,  we 
would  recommend  and  solicit  their  efficient  co-operation  with  the 
Assembly's  Board. 

7.  That  a  due  regard  to  the  order  of  the  church  and  the 
bonds  of  brotherhood  require,  in  the  opinion  of  this  Assembly, 
that  ministers  dismissed  in  good  standing,  by  sister  Presbyteries, 
should  be  received  by  the  Presbyteries  which  they  are  dismissed 


'  <;-■ 


OLD   SCHOOL    VINDICATED.  95 

to  join,  upon  the  credit  of  their  constitutional  testimonials,  unless, 
they  shall  have  forfeited  their  good  standing  subsequent  to  their 
dismissal. 

8.  That,  in  the  opinion  of  this  Assembly,  to  take  up  and  try 
and  condemn  any  printed  publications  as  heretical  and  dangerous, 
is  equivalent  to  condemning  the  author  as  heretical;  thai  to  con- 
demn heresy  in  the  abstract  cannot  be  understood  as  the  purpose 
of  such  trial ;  that  the  results  of  such  trial  are  to  bear  upon  and 
seriously  to  affect  the  standing  of  the  author;  and,  that  the  fair 
and  unquestionable  mode  of  procedure  is,  if  the  author  be  alive 
and  known  to  be  of  our  communion,  to  institute  process  against 
him,  and  give  him  a  fair  and  constitutional  trial. 

9.  That  in  receiving  and  adopting  the  formularies  of  our 
church,  every  person  ought  to  be  supposed,  without  evidence  to 
the  contrary,  to  receive  and  adopt  them,  according  to  the  obvi- 
ous, known  and  established  meaning  of  the  terms,  as  the  confes- 
sion of  his  faith;  and  that  if  objections  be  made,  the  Presbytery, 
unless  he  withdraw  such  objections,  should  not  license,  or  ordain, 
or  admit  him. 

10.  That  in  the  judgment  of  this  Assembly,  it  is  expedient  that 
Presbyteries  and  Synods,  in  the  spirit  of  charity  and  forbearance, 
adjust  and  settle  among  themselves,  as  far  as  practicable,  all  their 
matters  of  grievance  and  disquietude,  without  bringing  them 
before  the  General  Assembly  and  the  world,  as  in  many  cases 
this  tends  to  aggravate  and  continue  them,  and  to  spread  them 
over  the  whole  church,  to  the  great  grief  of  its  members,  and 
injury  of  the  cause  of  religion." 

Mr.  I.  V.  Brown  gave  notice,  in  behalf  of  himself  and  those 
who  may  choose  to  unite  with  him,  that  they  claim  the  privilege 
of  entering  their  protest  against  the  above  resolutions. 

Accordingly  the  following  protest  was  presented,  read  and 
placed  upon  the  minutes,  sanctioned  by  the  whole  minority — 
thirty-eight  names. 

"  The  undersigned  protest  against  the  proceedings  of  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly,  relative  to  the  '  Memorial  complaining  of  sundry 
grievances  abroad  in  the  church.' 

"1.  On  account  of  the  manner  in  which  said  memorial  was 
treated  in  bringing  it  before  the  Assembly.  It  was  committed  to 
a  committee  who  brought  in  a  report,  in  nearly  all  respects  ad- 
verse to  the  memorial,  before  it  ivas  read  in  the  house  ;  so  that 
when  it  was  read,  it  was  heard  under  the  influence  of  all  the  pre- 
judice created  against  it  by  the  adverse  report  and  pre-judgment 
of  the  committee.  It  is  believed  that  this  method  of  procedure 
is  without  precedent  or  parallel  in  the  proceedings  of  any  of  the 
ecclesiastical  judicatories  of  our  church,  or  of  any  well  ordered 
deliberative  body,  of  whatever  kind. 


96  ,  OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED. 

"  2.  On  account  of  the  adoption,  by  this  Assembly,  of  the  firsS 
resolution  submitted  by  the  committee  aforesaid,  viz:  '  Resolved f 
That  this  Assembly  cannot  sanction  the  censure  contained  in  the 
jnemorial  against  the  proceedings  and  measures  of  former  Gen- 
eral Assemblies.'  If  the  proceedings  and  measures  of  our  Gen- 
eral Assemblies  are  not  to  be  regarded  as  infallible  and  immutable, 
then  their  equity  and  expediency  are  fairly  open  to  the  inves- 
tigation and  remarks  of  the  members  of  the  church  ;  nor  is  it 
perceived  how  the  redress  of  grievancies,  arising  from  the  acts 
of  the  General  Assembly,  can  be  obtained  by  an  aggrieved 
party,  if  such  a  party  may  not  state  freely  and  fearlessly  the 
ground  of  complaint,  although  this  should  imply,  as  indeed  it 
must,  in  most  cases,  necessarily  imply  a  censure  of  the  proceed- 
ings which  are  the  subjects  of  complaint.  We  fully  recognize 
the  obligations  of  memorialists  and  petitioners  to  address  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly,  in  respectful  language  ;  and  such  language,  we  do 
conscientiously  think,  was  used,  in  an  exemplary  manner,  by  the 
memorialists,  and  that  they  could  not  have  kid  open  their  griev- 
ances fairly  and  fully,  with  greater  reserve  than  that  which  they 
maintained,  and  therefore  that  this  decision  of  the  Assembly  goes 
to  abridge  the  liberty  which  every  member  of  our  church,  and" 
every  free  man  and  Christian  in  our  country  ought  to  enjoy  and 
maintain. 

"  3.  We  protest  against  the  second  resolution,  as  going  to  ren- 
der permanent  '  the  Plan  of  Union  between  Presbyterians  and 
Congregationalists  in  the  new  settlements,'  which  we  consider 
plainly  and  palpably  unconstitutional.  We  do  not  wish  for  an 
abrupt  violation  of  this  plan,  on  the  part  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church,  but  for  the  commencement  of  measures  which  shall  re- 
sult in  a  return  to  the  ground  of  the  constitution,  and  this  without 
injury  to,  perhaps  with  the  consent  and  approbation  of,  both  the 
parties  concerned.  But  regarding  the  second  resolution  as  calcula- 
ted, and  probably  intended,  to  perpetuate  an  unconstitutional 
transaction,  we  decidedly  protest  against  it. 

"4.  We  protest  against  the  fifth  resolution,  because  we  view 
it  as  interfering  with  the  liberty  of  speech,  the  liberty  of  the  press, 
and  with  Christian  duty.  For  any  abuse  of  this  liberty  we  are 
not  advocates.  But  to  prohibit,  in  all  cases,  the  censure  of  au- 
thors, in  connexion  with  their  heretical  publications,  is  in  our  best 
judgment,  to  throw  a  shield  over  both.  For  if  the  public  are  not 
pointed  to  a  particular  book  or  pamphfet,  it  will'  often  not  be 
known  what  publication  is  intended,  and  its  very  existence  may 
be  denied  ;  and  if  the  publication  be  distinctly  referred  to,  and  it 
bears  the  name  of  the  author  in  the  title  page,  (which  was  the 
case  in  all  the  instances  referred  to  in  the  memorial,)  then  those 
who  simply  make  this  reference  fall  under  the  heavy  denancia- 


OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED.  97'^' 

tion  of  this  resolution.  We  profess  to  admire  the  provisions  of 
the  constitution,  which  this  resolution  eulogises,  as  nnuch  as  they 
do  who  franked  and  sanctioned  it,  and  we  protest  against  the  re- 
solution itself,  because  its  tendency  is  to  render  difficult,  and  in 
some  cases  absolutely  impracticable,  the  duty  which  the  consti- 
tution enjoins;  and  thus  may  prove,  as  we  have  said,  a  shield 
both  to  the  heretic  and  to  his  work. 

"5.  We  do  earnestly  and  solemnly  protest  against  the  seventh 
resolution,  in  which  it  is  asserted,  '  that  ministers  dismissed  in 
good  standing,  by  sister  Presbyteries,  should  be  received  by  the- 
I'resbyteries  vyhich  they  are  dismissed  to  join,  upon  the  credit  of 
their  constitutiimal  testimonials,  unless  they  shall  have  forfeited 
tlieir  good  standing  subsequently  to  their  dismissal.'  This  resolu- 
tion is  in  conflict  with  the  right  of  a  Presbytery  to  judge  of  the  qual- 
ifications of  its  own  members,  which  we  verily  believe  has  nev-er 
before  beeh  authoritatively  attacked  and  impaired  from  the  time 
of  the  meeting  of  the  Assembly  of  divines  at  Westminster,  in 
which  it  was  recognized,  till  the  meeting  of  the  present  General 
Assembly.  It  is  indeed  in  conflict  with  the  acknowledged  right 
inherent  in  the  members  of  every  society,  civil  as  well  as  eccle- 
siastical, to  judge  of  the  qualifications  of  those  with  whom  they 
.>^hall  be  associated.  But  it  not  only  contravenes  a  right,  it  also 
exposes  the  entire  church  to  the  most  serious  evils,  h  puts  it  in 
the  power  of  a  few  corrupt  Presbyteries  to  corrupt  the  whole 
church,  by  throwing  their  members  into  sound  Presbyteries,  one 
after  another,  till  they  become  dominant  in  all.  We  view  it  as  a 
virtual  relinquishaient  and  denial  of  one  of  the  essential  princi- 
ples of  all  Presbyterian  order  and  government ;  and  as  such  we 
must  solemnly  protet  agiiinst  it.  \Ve  do  anfl  must  maintain  that 
every  Presbytery  has  an  inherent  and  indefeasible  right  to  deter- 
mine whether  it  will  receive  into  its  bosom  any  and  every  mem- 
ber who  applies  for  such  recejjtion.  Ciicumstances  may  render 
it  unnecessary  to  call  this  rigfit  into  exercise,  at  least  for  a  time, 
in  every  instance  in  which  applicatirm  is  made  for  admission  to  a 
Presbytery.  The  denini  of  tfiis  right,  we  repeat  and  insist,  is  the 
denial  of  a  fundamental  principle  of  Presbyterianism. 

"  6.  We  protest  against  the  eighth  resolution,  because,  in  our 
judgment,  it  not  only  establishes  a  prin^^iple  erroneous  in  itself, 
iMjt  docs,  in  fact,  the  very  thing  which  it  imputes  to  the  memo- 
rialists. It  casts  censure  on  a  former  Clencral  Assembly  for  ex- 
amining and  condemning  n  heretif-al  book,  before  the  nuthor  was 
tried  :uid  condemned  by  his  Presbytery.  We  [)ere  refer  to  the 
case  of  W.  C.  Davis.  Ii  is  our  hrm  belief  that  it  is  often  imperiously 
a  duty  incumbent  on  the  judicatories  of  the  church  to  examine 
erroneous  opinions,  in  t/tesi ;  and  having  carefully  compared 
them  with  the  standards  of  the  church  and  the  word  of  God,  to 

G 


98  OLD    SCHOOL   VINDICATED. 

condemn  them  in  the  abstract ;  and  then,  if  it  be  thought  expe* 
dient  and  be  found  practicable,  (which  it  may  not  always  be,)  to 
subject  those  who  may  have  promulgated  those  opinions  to  the 
proper  discipline.  To  invert  this  order,  is,  in  our  opinion,  to  ren- 
der discipline,  in  many  cases,  difficult,  and  in  some  impractica- 
ble, and  thus  to  prove  a  protection  to  those  who  are  unsound  in 
the  faith. 

"  We  might  specify  some  additional  points  in  the  resolutions, 
against  v^^hich  we  protest ;  but  those  to  which  we  have  adverted 
we  regard  as  the  most  objectionable.  Still  we  feel  ourselves  con- 
strained to  add,  that  the  doings  of  the  Assembly,  in  regard  to  the 
memorial,  adopted  by  eleven  Presbyteries,  or  parts  of  Presbyte- 
ries, as  well  as  by  several  Sessions  and  numerous  individuals, 
a  support  greater  than  any  other  memorial  has  received  that  has 
ever  been  presented  to  any  General  Assembly  in  this  country,  is 
calculated  deeply  to  grieve  and  wound  the  feelings  of  a  large 
part,  and  we  must  think  not  an  unsound  or  undeserving  part,  of 
the  Presbyterian  Church.  Their  pious,  and  as  we  think,  their 
just  and  reasonable  expectations  of  some  redress  from  the  Gene- 
eral  Assembly,  will  be  utterly  and  hopelessly  disappointed.  We 
do,  therefore,  by  otTering  this  protest,  most  solemnly  and  earnestly 
beseech  the  Assembly  to  pause,  to  consider  the  probable  conse- 
quences of  their  action  on  this  memorial,  and  yet  to  retrace  their 
steps,  lest  the  adherents  to  the  standards  of  our  church,  in  their 
plain  and  obvious  meaning,  should  find  themselves  constrained, 
however  reluctantly,  to  resort  to  first  principles,  and  make  their 
final  appeal  to  the  great  Head  of  the  church. 

"Philadelphia,  June  3,  1834." 

That  protest  is  in  gentle  terms;  in  a  submissive  but  decided 
spirit ;  it  left  no  alternative  but  redress  for  grievances  or  a  resort, 
in  some  shape,  to  first  principles.  The  idea  of  abandoning  the 
church  to  the  desperate  disposal  of  a  company  of  lawless  men, 
who  had  crept  in  unawares,  and  seemed  resolved,  in  spite  of  every 
moral  obligation  and  all  reasonable  dissuasions,  to  eat  out  her 
vitals  and  hold  her  up,  with  themselves,  to  the  scorn  and  pity  of 
the  world  as  an  empty  shell  or  withered  husk,  never  for  one  mo- 
ment occupied  the  minds  of  the  noble-hearted  few  who  were 
thrown  together  in  that  memorable  Assembly  of  the  Presbyte- 
rian Church ;  the  longest,  most  embroiled  and  most  eventful 
which,  till  that  day,  had  ever  convened  on  American  soil. 

It  is  true,  that  Assembly  embraced  in  its  catalogue  quite  a  num- 
ber of  nominally  sound,  amiable,  excellent  men,  who  made  fair 
professions,  but  were  too  timid,  too  irresolute  and  undecided,  even 
under  the  cogent  circumstances  then  presented,  to  come  up  to  the 
help  of  the  Lord  against  his  foes.  But  their  lukewarmness  could 
not  shake  the  firmness  of  the  standard-bearers  in  this  Assembly. 


OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED.  99 

Indeed  the  clear  and  startling  indications  of  revolutionary  design 
and  hostility,  in  this  newly  created  majority,  rushed  upon  them 
with  such  power  as  to  leave  no  room  tor  hesitation.  The  die  is 
cast;  the  church  must  be  free!  was  their  determined  and  unani- 
mous declaration. 


CHAPTER    X. 

Articles  from  the  Presbyterian  on  the  resolutions  of  the  Assembly — Alter- 
native presented  to  the  minority — Proceedings  of  Xew  School— Evidences 
of  conspiracy — Moderates — The  Ad  and  Testimony. 

The  following  articles  were  published  in  the  Presbyterian,  bear- 
:ng  dale,  as  staled,  in  the  autumn  of  1834,  and  were  intended  as 
criticisms  upon  the  disorganizing  measures  of  the  preceding 
(.General  Assembly.  We  omit  the  last  five  of  these  articles, 
which  were  in  reply  to  the  Repertory,  in  October,  1834,  on  the 
subject  of  the  Act  and  Testimony.  The  reference  to  that  docu- 
ment in  these  articles  is  more  incidental  than  direct. 

No.  I.— October,  1834. 

PRESENT  STATE  AND    PROSPECT  01   THE    PRESBYTERIAN    CHURCH. 

"  Act  and  Testimony." 

No  man  who  regards  religion  at  all,  and  especially  no  true 
Presbyterian,  can  be  insensible  to  the  magnitude  of  this  subject. 
The  nature,  the  importance,  and  the  prevalence  of  evangelical 
truth,  the  wisdom  and  fidelity  of  the  last  General  Assembly,  and 
of  some  that  preceded,  the  character  of  the  minority  in  that  body, 
and  the  propriety  of  their  measures,  and  the  purity,  peace,  and 
)>rosperity  of  the  church -at  large  are  all  involved  in  the  discussion 
of  this  most  interestino;  topic. 

The  "  Act  and  Testimony,"  which  it  is  proposed,  in  a  few  suc- 
cessive papers,  to  illustrate  and  commend,  is  a  document  which 
grew  out  of  the  condition  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  as  mani- 
fested in  the  transactions  of  several  successive  General  Assem- 
lilies,  and  especially  at  the  last  annua!  meeting  of  that  body. 
Though  gotten  up  under  circumstances  which  gave  rise  to  strong 
feeling,  that  instrument  Was  adopted  by  the  first  signers  in  Phila- 
delphia with  as  much  prayerful  deliberation  as  has  usually  been 
employed  on  similar  great  occasions,  in  the  troublous  limes  of  the 
church,  it  was  not  a  measure  courted  by  the  minoiity,  but 
pressed  upon  them  as  a  last  resort,  by  imperious  considerations. 


100  OLD    SCHOOL    VIVDICATED. 

They  embraced  this  part  of  the  only  ahernative  left  them,  with 
painful  reluctance;  but  wiih  that  firmness  and  promptitude  which 
public  duty  and  personal  responsibility  conspire  to  produce.  Un- 
speakably more  agreeable  to  their  hearts  would  it  have  been,  to 
find  nothing  in  the  acts  of  the  Assembly  which  they  could  not 
cheerfully  support.  But  witnessing,  as  they  did,  through  the  pro- 
tracted period  of  three  weeks,  the  adoption  of  a  train  of  measures 
utterly  inconsistent  wiih  the  standards  of  our  church,  both  as  to 
doctrine  and  discipline — utterly  illegal  and  indefensible  in  their 
form  and  tendency — they  felt  that  they  could  not  be  faithful  to 
the  church,  to  themselves,  nor  to  the  great  Head  of  the  church', 
without  making  the  appeal  which  is  before  you  in  the  "Act  and 
Testimony."'  They  were  solemnly  convinned,  that  the  time  had 
come  in  which  the  friends  of  truth  and  order  in  tiie  Presbyterian 
body  must  speak  out  boldly,  bear  testimony  against  error,  and  lift 
up  the  standard  of  the  Lord  in  a  vew  and  nnequivocal  form. 

That  instrument  hns  been  assailed  frotn  many  quarters  and  on 
various  grounds,  by  policy  in  adversaries,  from  mistake  among 
friends.  Its  spirit  has  been  denounced  as  insubordinate  and  re- 
fractory, iis  phraseology  criticised  as  severe  and  ofll;nsive,its  ten- 
dency disapproved  as  disorganizing  and  schismatic.  Some  have 
pronounced  it  causeless  and  unnecessary:  others  have  charged  it 
with  uncharitableness  and  illiberality.  'J'he  numerous  miscon- 
structions by  some,  and  criminations  by  others,  with  which  it  has 
been  followed  since  its  adoption,  have  led  to  a  careful  and  impar- 
TJal  examination  of  its  foundation  and  chararter.  This  review 
has  produced  a  decided  and  immf)veable  persuasion,  that  the 
principles  avov^'cd  in  the  "Act  and  Testimony,"  are  just  and  ap- 
propriate, and  the  course  of  the  minority  distinguished  by  a  sound, 
faithful,  and  vigilant  regard  to  the  purity  and  order  of  the  church 
of  Christ. 

This  document  is  now  before  the  Chiisfi.-sn  public.  It  cannot 
be  viewed  with  indifference.  The  matter  it  contains,  the  circum- 
stances in  which  it  was  penned,  the  efl*el-t  it  has  produced  and 
will  produce,  and  the  manner  in  which  the  judicatories,  officers, 
and  members  of  the  church  may  dispose  o|  it,  are  all  stamped 
with  importance,  and  will  form  a  memorable  era  in  the  annals  of 
our  great  ecclesiastical  body.  Its  advocates  do  not  ask  that  it 
should  be  adopted  hastily  and  witlioul  being  canvassed;  but  they 
earnestly  request  that  no  man  would  reject  it  without  full  informa- 
lion  and  impartial  consideration.  We  do  honestly  believe,  that 
very  many  of  those  who  appear  to  stand  in  doubt  or  in  opposition  to 
this  measure,  need  only  just  information  to  transform  them  into 
friends  and  supporters. 

Before  we  proceed  to  the  illustration  contemplated,  it  is  proper 
to  correct  an  erroneous  impression  which  appears  to  have  been 


OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED.  101 

artfully  made  by  (he  authors  and  abettors  of  error  and  misrule 
in  our  church,  to  forestall  the  public  mind,  to  facilitate  their  own 
course,  and  to  obstruct  the  way  of  reform. 

"The  opposers  of  new  doctrines  and  new  measures,"  say  they, 
"  are  disturbers  of  the  peace  of  the  church,  they  manifest  a  heresy- 
hunting  and  persecuting  spirit:  and  all  the  guilt  and  odium  of  the 
divisions  and  controversies  existing  among  us,  are  justly  charge- 
able upon  them !"  Thus  do  they  take  it  upon  themselves  to  decide 
ihe  very  point  in  question,  and  to  brand  all  whom  they  find  iti 
their  way  of  innovation,  wiih  the  stigma  of  sedition.  "Oh!"  say 
they,  "if  these  rigid,  l)igotted,  tenacious  sticklers  about  doctrines 
and  forms,  would  onl}'  let  us  alone,  all  things  would  go  on 
smoothly  and  quieil\',  the  church  would  be  calm  as  a  summer's 
sea."  It  is  readily  admitied  that  tlie  enemies  of  truth  wish  noth- 
ing so  ardently  as  to  be  let  alone  in  their  career,  they  do  not  like 
to  be  suspected,  to  have  their  counsels  scrutinized,  their  errors 
uncovered  and  held  up  to  the  light.  Such  feelings  are  natural 
and  common  to  all  evil  doers. 

We  admit  again,  that  there  is  a  limited  sense  in  which  the  ac- 
cusation is  apparently  true.  As  the  advocates  of  sound  doctrines, 
we  are  compelled  by  a  sense  of  duly,  to  bear  testimony  against 
the  errors  of  others,  and  sometimes  openly  to  reprove  them. 
Silence,  in  many  circumstances,  would  be  treachery  to  the  mo- 
mentous trust  committed  to  us,  and  imply  a  participation  in  the 
mischiefs  which  prevail.  Rebukes,  they  regard  as  the  greatest 
offence  and  provocation,  and  in  proportion  to  the  justness  of  the 
reproof,  will  often  be  the  keenness  of  their  resentment.  In  this 
sense,  we  are  troublers  of  those  who  violate  their  sacred  obliga- 
tions, by  denying  our  common  fiiith.  But  this  is  the  unavoidable 
result  of  our  fidelity  in  maintaining  the  truth  of  God.  And  we 
■submit  to  the  enlightened  and  candid  church  and  world,  with 
perfect  confidence,  the  interesting  inquiry,  to  wdiich  of  the  parties 
in  this  collision  do  the  guilt  and  odium  of  discord  belong? 

We  farther  admit,  that  we  are  not  alone  in  being  reproached 
as  troublesome  for  endeavouring  to  maintain  the  truth.  Upon 
examination,  it  will  be  found  that  the  charge  of  faction  and  sedi- 
tion has  been  brought  against  the  open  advocates  of  truth  and 
reprovers  of  error,  in  every  age.  These  charges  have  been  ad- 
vanced, not  only  by  the  profligate  and  vulgar,  the  infidel  and 
scoffer,  but  by  men  of  wealth,  education,  and  power,  high  in  of- 
fice in  the  churches,  boasters  of  zeal  for  theological  science  and 
purity.  The  profane  prince  Ahab,  who,  by  his  apostacy"did 
more  to  provoke  the  Lord  God  to  anger  than  all  the  kings  of 
Israel  that  were  before  him,"  1  Kings  xvi.  33,  dared  to  charge 
Elijah,  the  faithful  servant  of  God,  with  being  a  "  troubler  of  Is- 
rael."   A  similar  accusation  was  alleged  by  the  corrupt  and  ana- 


102  OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED. 

bilious  Haman,  against  all  the  faithful  servants  of  the  true  God, 
"scattered  abroad  among  the  people,  in  all  the  provinces  of  the 
kingdom  of  Ahasuerus."  Esther  iii.,  8.  The  prophet  Jeremiah 
encountered  severe  censures  and  threats  on  account  of  his  fidelity 
in  reproving  the  false  prophets,  and  priests,  and  corrupt  people  of 
his  day.  Our  Divine  Saviour  himself  fell  under  the  same  denun- 
ciation !  "  He  deceiveth  the  people."  John  vij.,  12.  And  he  was 
at  last  brought  to  the  cross  by  false  accusation  of  enmity  to 
Caesar.  How  frequently  and  vehemently  was  the  apostle  Paul 
assailed  with  similar  opprobious  and  slanderous  charges  !  Through 
all  the  subsequent  periods  of  the  church,  the  same  practice  has 
prevailed.  Whoever  has  been  found  among  clergy  or  laity,  suf- 
iiciently  honest,  and  bold,  and  faithful,  to  reprove,  and  bear  Testi- 
mony against  errors  in  doctrine,  has  been  stigmatised  as  factious 
and  troublesome.  We  find  ourselves,  by  these  charges,  placed 
in  the  best  society  of  earth,  and  we  willingly  share  their  fate: 
but  shall  in  no  wise  be  deterred  from  pursuing  the  course  we 
have  chosen.  We  are  well  aware,  that  through  the  corruption  of 
human  nature,  and  the  imperfection  of  Christian  virtue,  these  un- 
founded allegations  often  prove  successful,  at  least  for  a  time. 
Popular  sympathies  are  on  the  side  of  the  accusers.  A  relaxed 
and  reduced  tone  of  theological  purity,  both  as  to  truth  and  mo- 
rality, suits  the  world;  and  a  considerable  portion  of  the  church 
feel  this  sympathy  so  strongly,  that  they  readily  listen,  and  easily 
yield  to  the  appeals  of  the  disorganizing  and  unsound.  The  lead- 
ers in  the  majority  of  the  last  Assembly  knew  this  fact,  they  seized 
the  handle  thus  presented  to  them,  and  wielded  it  with  a  force 
and  dexterity  but  loo  successful  in  the  prosecution  of  their  plans. 
The  city  of  Philadelphia  furnished  decisive  evidence  to  support 
these  statements,  and  the  General  Assembly,  in  its  thronged  aisles, 
and  galleries,  and  lobbies,  confirmed  the  fact.  This,  then,  is  a 
strong  hold  of  the  majority.  Jn  their  mouths,  it  is  a  convenient 
and  imposing  substitute  for  truth  and  reason.  This  artifice  ope- 
rates in  two  ways.  It  strengthens  the  sympathies  of  such  as  are 
already  more  than  half  wrong;  and  it  drives  from  the  ranks  ot 
opposition  many  who  are  on  the  whole  sound  men,  but  of  a  timid,, 
hesitating  temper.  Thus  a  temporizing  policy  has  been  induced, 
important  points  at  issue  have  been  tamely  and  easily  surrendered, 
for  the  sake  of  peace.  But  the  spirit  of  innovation  is  insatiable  as 
death — it  acquires  strength  and  boldness  from  concession — to  at- 
tempt to  compromise  is  to  yield  a  victory ! 

Encouraged  by  past  success,  the  real  troublers  of  the  church 
follow  the  minority  still  with  the  same  unjust  criminations.  Is  it 
true  then,  that  in  any  community,  professing  to  be  governed  by 
laws,  fixed  and  binding  in  their  nature,  which  all  have  voluntarily 
assumed  and  soletnnly  sworn  to  obey,  that  the  transgressors,  of  the 


OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED.  103 

compact  are  innocent,  and  the  advocates  of  honest  adherence  and 
conformity,  criminal  ?  Is  it  more  meritorious  in  these  days  of 
new  light  to  destroy  the  truth  than  to  defend  it?  or  have  truth 
and  error  changed  sides?  Has  light  become  darkness  and  dark- 
ness light  ?  Are  the  heretical,  in  the  bosom  of  the  church,  dis- 
charged from  all  obligation  to  observe  her  standards  and  forms? 
Have  their  ordination  vows  ceased  to  possess  binding  force  ?  Or 
have  they  entered  the  church,  observing,  nominally,  the  form  of 
obligation,  but  secretly  rejecting  its  spirit  and  denying  its  power. 
If  the  charge  brought  against  the  advocates  of  truth  be  well 
founded,  what  guard  is  there  against  error?  Or  is  there  none? 
Has  God  committed  his  blessed  truth  to  the  winds  and  waves  of 
this  corrupt  world  without  a  pilot,  a  star,  or  an  anchor?  The  mi- 
nority, in  this  great  question,  believe  that  God  has  placed  the 
most  sacred  guards  around  his  truth,  that  he  has  bound  his  min- 
isters by  most  impressive  sanctions,  "  to  be  zealous  and  faitht^ul  in 
maintaining  the  truths  of  the  gospel  and  the  purity  and  peace  of 
the  church,  whatever  persecution  or  opposition  may  arise  unto 
them  on  that  account."  Form  of  Gov.,  chap,  xiv.,  sec.  10.  And 
when  constrained,  by  a  regard  to  their  own  solemn  engagement, 
and  the  divine  command,  they  "  lift  up  the  standard  of  the  Lord 
against  the  enemy,  coming  in  like  a  flood,"  (Isaiah  lix.,  19,)  shall 
they  be  denounced  as  troiiblers  of  Zion  ?  On  the  same  principle, 
may  not  all  faithful  civil  officers,  preservers,  and  prpmoters  of  jus- 
tice and  good  order  in  society,  be  stigmatized  as  alarmists  and 
disturbers?  May  not  the  very  enactments  of  the  Supreme  Law- 
giver be  denounced  by  transgressors  as  troublesome,  with  equal 
propriety  ?  From  every  just  view  that  we  can  take  of  the  subject, 
it  is  clear  that  they  who  are  nobly  endeavouring  to  support  the 
constitution  of  our  church,  her  faith  and  her  discipline,  are  sus- 
tained by  reason  and  justice.  Their  course  is  prescribed  and 
sanctioned,  not  less  by  divine  command,  than  by  their  own  official 
pledge.  Less  they  could  not  do,  and  maintain  the  character  of 
candour,  consistence,  and  fidelity.  Let  the  guilt,  and  the  awful 
responsibility  of  innovation,  tumult,  and  animosity  in  the  Presby- 
terian body,  fall  where  they  justly  should,  upon  the  corrupters  of 
the  purity  and  simplicity  of  our  system.  T/iey  are  the  trouhlers 
of  Zion,  and  it  remains  for  them  to  rescue  themselves  from  the 
*'  curse"  denounced  against  those  who  "  preach  another  gospel." 
(Gals,  i.,  8,  9.) 

A  Member  of  New  Brunswick  Presbytery. 

No.  II.— October,  1834. 
" Act  and  Testimony'^ — Grounds  of  it. 
Great  pains  have  been  taken  by  certain  leaders  in  the  work  of 
disorganization,  and  others  have  co-operated,  in  making  an  im- 


104  OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED. 

pression,  that  there  is  really  no  cause  for  the  "  Act  and  TesJi- 
mony  ;"  that  there  is  no  serious  or  alarming  division  in  the  church. 
Hence  their  incessant  efforts  to  remove  constitutional  landmarks, 
to  preserve  an  apparent  amalgamalion  with  the  true  church,  by 
breaking  down  all  distinctions  between  themselves  and  the  pure 
Presbyterian  body.  Hence,  also,  their  frequent  cries  in  the  Gene- 
ral Assembly  and  elsewhere,  "  We  are  orthodox — we  are  old- 
school — we  are  true  Presbyterians — we  are  Confession  of  Faith 
men!"  This  appears  extremely  inconsistent;  for  at  thai  very  mo- 
ment, they  were  pursuing  a  systematic  train,  and  passing  acts 
which  could  not  fail  to  destroy  the  purity  and  unity  of  the  church. 
Enlarged  charity  does  not  prohibit  us  from  supposing  that  this 
procedure  was  designed  to  throw  dust  in  the  eyes  of  the  unwary, 
and  to  lead  such,  imperceptibly,  to  favour  their'plans.  Their  suc- 
cess in  this  measure  is  no  longer  matter  of  speculation.  The 
question  now  is,  shall  this  delusion  last  ?  It  will  not  be  difficult  to 
exhibit  to  unprejudiced  minds  satisfactory  grounds  for  the  "Act 
and  Testimony."  Indeed,  the  facts  and  views  to  be  presented  in 
several  subsequent  essays,  will  lay  open  a  train  which  has  been 
for  years  in  progress,  to  change  materially  the  Presbyterian  plan 
of  church  government,  and  to  introduce  theological  opinions  es- 
sentially at  variance  with  the  Confession  of  Faith. 

The  Western  Memorial  "on  the  present  state  of  the  Presbyte- 
rian Church,Jte  presented  to  the  Assembly  in  May,  1834,  furnishes 
a  brief  summary  of  the  evidence  on  this  subject,  which  existed 
prior  to  that  period.  We  shall  here  present  only  a  few  of  the 
facts  there  recited,  referring  our  readers  for  hiore  full  information, 
to  that  important  document,  and,  in  the  sequel,  adding  many  items 
to  the  painful  catalogue. 

The  "Plan  of  Union"  with  Congregational  Churches,  adopted 
by  the  General  Assembly  in  ISOl,  assumes  a  power  no  where  en- 
trusted to  them  by  the  constituiion.  The  "mutual  council,"  an 
ecclesiastical  tribunal  then  established  for  the  government  of  a 
portion  of  the  Piesbylerian  Church,  and  the  substitution  of  "  eow- 
mitlee  men"  for  ruling  elders,  are  expedients,  however  well  in- 
tended, most  obviously  repugnant  to  the  spirit  and  the  letter  of 
our  constitution,*  and  have  been  perverted  from  their  original  de- 
sign, and  persisted  in  so  far,  as  to  impair  practically  our  form  of 
government,  and  to  threaten  its  very  existence.  For  the  correct- 
ness of  these  statements,  compare  that  planf  with  the  Book  ol 
Discipline.  A  repeal  of  this  plan  now,  when  the  causes  which 
gave  rise  to  it  do  not  exist,  has  been  repeatedly  asked  for,  but  in 
vain.  This  unconstitutional  accommodation  has  been  a  door  oi' 
entrance  to  anti-Presbyterian  men  and  measures,  greatly  dimin- 

*  Form  of  GovernmeDt,  chap,  xii.,  sec.  G.  f  See  Digest,  p.  207. 


OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED.  105 

ishing  the  uniformity  of  our  character,  and  gradually  undermining 
the  principles  of  our  system.  Whole  districts  of  the  church  are 
without  ruling  elders,  know  nothing  of  the  pastoral  relation  be- 
tween ministers  and  people,  are  supplied  by  teachers  who  have 
never  adopted  our  Confession  of  Faith  nor  form  of  government, 
and  are  substantially  Congregational  in  their  spirit  and  aim,  re- 
taining for  convenience  sake  the  Presbyterian  distinction.  All 
their  deviations  from  our  constituted  forms,  and  opposition  to  our 
standards,  are  openly  vindicated  by  an  appeal  to  the  "  Plan  of 
Union."  Into  this  prolific  source  of  error  and  disunion,  we  ask 
the  intelligent  and  candid  to  look,  for  grounds  of  the  "  Act  and 
Testimony." 

To  aid  the  work  of  innovation,  many  devices  have  been  em- 
ployed, ail  accelerating  its  progress,  and  deepening  its  injurious 
effect.  One  of  the  most  successful  of  these  is,  the  opinion  now 
maintained  by  numbers  who  assume  the  Presbyterian  name,  that 
every  individual  who  enters  our  church,  in  adopting  her  standards, 
has  a  right  to  put  his  "own  construction"  upon  any  part  of  them, 
without  responsibility  for  that  construction.  Tiiat  this  subterfuge 
is  em[iloyed  as  a  disguise  for  error,  and  has  aided  to  mar  both  the 
purity  and  peace  of  our  church,  no  intelligent  and  candid  man, 
we  presume,  will  deny. 

The  opinions  of  men,  venerable  for  learning  and  piety,  on  the 
subject  of  adopting  creeds,  ought  to  exert  great  influence.  The 
following  paragraph,  in  relation  to  subscribing  the  articles  of  the 
established  church,  is  extracted  from  a  letter  of  D\:  Thomas  Scott, 
author  of  the  Commentary  on  the  Bible: 

"If  by  subscription  be  meant,  an  avowed  assent  to  the  truth  of 
any  proposition  contained  in  what  we  subscribe,  [  can  never  sub- 
scribe these  articles  witho'ut  telling  a  most  audacious  lie  in  the 
face  of  God,  in  a  solemn  and  important  matter  of  religion,  for  the 
sake  of  sordid  lucre." 

No  man  possessed  more  profoundly  the  confidence  of  the 
American  people,  than  Dr.  John  Witherspooii.  The  following  is 
his  language  on  the  subject  of  these  subscriptions:  "This  is  so 
direct  a  violation  of  sincerity,  that  it  is  astonishing  to  think  how 
men  can  set  their  minds  at  ease  in  the  prospect,  or  keep  them  in 
peace  after  the  deliberate  commission  of  it.  The  very  excuses 
and  evasions  that  are  olfered  in  defence  of  it,  are  a  disgrace  to 
reason,  as  well  as  a  scandal  to  religion.  What  success  can  be 
expected  from  that  man's  ministry,  who  begins  it  with  an  act  of 
so  complicated  guilt?  Plow  can  he  take  upon  him  to  reprove 
others  for  sin,  or  to  train  them  up  in  virtue  and  true  goodness, 
while  himself  is  chargeable  with  direct,  premeditated,  and  per- 
petual perjury?"*    If  this  system  of  deception  be  permitted  to  re- 

*  Witherspoon'a  Works,  Vol.  III.,  p.  197. 


lOG  OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED. 

liiain  uncorrected  in  the  very  sanctuary  of  our  church,  what  se- 
curity can  she  have  against  the  continual  invasion  of  the  sacred 
office,  by  unsound  and  disorganizing  men? 

The  practice  pursued  by  some  Presbyteries,  of  ordaining  young 
men,  in  one  part  of  the  church,  to  dispense  the  ordinances  of  the 
gospel  in  other  districts,  under  regular  Presbyterial  care,  has  pro- 
duced much  evil,  is  at  variance  not  less  wiih  the  discreet  usages 
of  the  church,  than  with  sound  expediency.  Two  causes  have 
been  assigned  for  this  irregularity,  to  the  one  or  the  other  of 
which  it  owes  its  origin  and  its  prevalence;  either  a  design  to 
screen  from  constitutional  scrutiny,  candidates,  who,  from  hasty 
preparation  or  weakness  of  intellect,  are  destitute  of  competent 
ministerial  furniture,  or  to  conceal  corrupt  opinions  and  prejudices 
on  the  subject  of  theological  science  and  church  government. 

How  incompatible  with  an  honest  and  faithful  support  of  the 
Presbyterian  system,  is  the  conduct  of  those  Presbyteries,*  who 
suddenly  and  frequently  lay  hands  upon  young  men,  even  clusters 
of  them,  educated  under  Congregational  influence  and  in  Congre- 
gational seminaries,  who  know  nothing  about  the  Presbyterian 
system  in  doctrine  or  discipline,  except  the  name,  and  are  forth- 
with commissioned  to  preach  the  gospel  and  administer  its  ordi- 
nances, within  the  limits  of  sound  Presbyteries,  who  are  now  for- 
bidden to  demur  or  to  inquire.  Is  this  course  congenial  with  our 
ecclesiastical  institutions?  Must  it  not  necessarily  produce  error, 
strife,  every  evil  fruit?  Can  the  friends  of  pure  Presbyterianism,  who 
love  the  church  in  her  uncorrupied  character,  and  feel  solemnly 
obliged  and  deeply  solicitous,  to  preserve  her  order  from  perver- 
sion and  abuse,  honestly  stand  by.  in  silence  and  inaction  while 
the  w'ork  of  deterioration,  in  numberless  instances  and  palpable 
forms,  is  rapidly  advancing,  and  that  under  sanction  of  the  highest 
authority?  The  resolutions  in  the  minutes  of  the  last  Assembly, 
which  seem  to  promise  relief  from  some  of  these  evils  will  be 
found  completely  nullified  by  other  measures  of  the  same  body. 
A  Member  of  New  Brunswick  Presbytery. 


No.  III.— October,  1834. 
"  j'lct  and  Testimony." — Additional  grounds  of  it. 
The  decision  of  the  General  Assembly  of  1832,  repeated  in 
1833,  and  confirmed  in  1834,  dividing  the  Presbytery  of  Phila- 
delphia, against  the  determination  of  the  Synod,  was  a  transac- 
tion in  its  nature  hostile  to  the  Presbyterian  system,  tending  to  in- 
troduce, under  the  sanction  of  arbitrary  power,  a  well  digested 
plan  to  corrupt  the  form  of  our  faith,  to  split  up  inferior  judicato- 
ries into  discordant  fragments,  and  to  divide  the  great  body  of  the 
church,  into  opposing  factions. 

*  Presbytery  of  Newburyport,  and  Third  Presbytery  of  New  York,  are- 
amon<'  those  referred  to. 


OLD    SCHOOL    VIXDICATED.  107 

The  act  referred  to,  contains  an  assumption  of  power,  infring- 
ing the  rights  of  inferior  judicatories,  and  the  introduction  of  a 
principle  corrupting  to  the  church. 

To  Synods  belong  the  work  of  forming  new  Presbyteries, 
within  their  own  bounds.  The  Synod  has  power  to  erect  new 
Presbyteries,  and  unite  or  divide  those  which  were  before  erected. 
Form  of  Government,  chap,  xi.,  sec.  4.  In  districts  not  claimed 
hv  Synods — in  circumstances  where  two  or  more  Synods  have 
come  into  contact — and  in  cases  referred  to  the  General  Assem- 
bly by  Synodical  advice,  that  body  has  formed  Presbyterie^•. 
But  after  careful  examination,  it  is  affirmed  that  no  instance  can 
be  produced  from  the  records  of  the  Assembly,  in  which  this 
right  of  Synods  has  been  questioned.  Several  cases  are  recorded 
in  which  it  has  been  recognized  and  confirmed.  Precedent  is 
therefore  against  the  assumption,  as  well  as^siatute. 

But,  say  the  advocates  of  this  arbitrary  measure,  "To  the 
General  Assembly  belongs  the  power  of  superintending  the  con- 
cerns of  the  whole  church,"  Form  of  Government,  chap,  xii., 
sec.  5.  And  this  is  a  sufficient  warrant  for  the  act.  Is  the  doc- 
trine to  be  admitted,  that  definite  designations  of  rights,  of  duties, 
and  of  powers,  resting  upon  specific  statutes,  must  yield  to  gene- 
ral provisions,  and  vague  trusts''  The  Synod  is  invested,  by  statute, 
with  power  "to  erect  new  Presbyteries" — the  General  Assembly 
has  power  "to  superintend  the  concerns  of  the  whole  church" — 
therefore  the  Assembly  may  erect  new  Presbyteries.  This  is  the 
argument.  Now  an  argument  which  proves  too  much,  proves 
nothing.  If  this  inference  be  just,  where  shall  we  limit  thb  power 
of  the  General  Assembly?  What  may  she  not  do?  If  this  princi- 
ple be  admitted,  is  it  not  obvious  that  collision  and  confusion  will 
be  an  immediate  result?  And  if  it  be  acquiesced  in,  who  can  fail 
to  see  that  a  concentration  and  accumulation  of  all  power  in  the 
General  Assembly  will  follow  of  course?  It  may  control,  at  plea- 
sure, all  the  measures  of  Synods,  of  Presbyteries,  and  church 
sessions.  It  may  assume  the  office  of  admitting  and  disciplining 
church  members;  of  educating,  licensing,  and  ordaining  candi- 
dates for  the  ministry.  It  may  become  a  complete  autocrat  or 
despot,  pervading  every  minute  department  of  the  church,  para- 
lyzing and  practically  annihilating  inferior  judicatories,  and  spread- 
ing innovation  and  revolution  every  where.  Such  an  interpreta- 
tion of  our  constitution,  was  to  be  expected  from  men  ignorant  of 
Presbyterianism,  blinded  and  disaffected  to  our  system  by  Con- 
gregational predilections.  To  such  Presbyterians,  if  Presbyte- 
rians they  may  be  called,  the  opinion  soberly  advocated  in  support 
of  the  above  construction,  that  the  General  Assembly  is  a  largo 
Presbytery,  the  depository  and  source  of  all  original  powers,  and 
that  Synods  and  Presbyteries  derive  their  rights  from  the  Assem- 


108  OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED. 

bly,  may  appear  feasible,  because  this  scheme  is  approaching 
somewhat  the  New  England  platform  of  church  government ;  but 
really,  an  attempt  to  support  this  theory,  with  our  Book  of  Disci- 
pHne  in  hand,  does  appear  very  chimerical.  Against  all  such 
usur|?aiion  and  confusion  in  the  affairs  of  our  church,  we  bear  our 
testimony,  and  lift  up  the  warning  voice. 

But  the  majority  had  a  strong  motive  impelling  them  to  this 
illegal  course  of  action.  It  was  to  introduce  what  they  call  the 
"elective  aliinity"  principle,*  a  principle  which  threatens  the 
whole  Presbyterian  Church,  as  such,  with  corruption  and  ex- 
tinction. Our  form  of  government  directs  that  Presbyteries  shall 
be  constituted  embracing  "all  the  ministers  and  one  ruling  elder, 
from  each  congregation,  within  a  certain  district."  Chap,  x.,  sec. 
2^.  The  "elective  affinity"  principle,  authorizes  the  creation  of 
Presbyteries,  without  definite  boundaries,  composed  of  men  arbi- 
trarily selected,  and  theologically  assorted,  to  secure  a  prepon- 
derance to  peculiar  opinions  and  measures.  Such  a  new  classifi- 
cation was  never  heard  of,  till  heresy  began  to  appear  and  to 
become  excessively  impatient  of  constitutional  restraint.  The 
edification  of  the  pure  church  demanded  no  such  arrangement. 
Orthodoxy  complained  of  no  difficulty  under  the  reign  of  her 
ancient,  wise,  and  venerable  Formula.  She  asked  no  indulgence, 
feared  no  evil.  Why  this  new  division,  this  panneling  and  pack- 
ing, in  a  manner  so  novel,  so  inconvenient  and  unnatural  ?  It  has 
not  happened  by  chance.  The  object  is,  to  bring  men  together, 
theologically  opposed  to  the  standards  of^tho  church,  but  suf- 
ficiently coincident  in  views  to  live  together  and  carry  on  the 
work  of  innovation,  in  which  they  are  engaged.  To  support  this 
statement,  we  refer  to  the  facts  developed  in  the  memorable  con- 
troversy, out  of  which  proceeded  the  first  prominent  act  of  the 
General  Assembly  establishing  this  unconstitutional  principle,  the 
creation  of  the  second  Presbytery  of  Philadelphia.  In  this  new 
Presbytery  were  embodied  the  individuals  who  had  been  for  seve- 
ral years  distracting  the  old  Presbytery  and  the  Synod  of  Phila- 
del[)hia,  bv  advocating  and  screening  the  heretical  opinions  con- 
tained in  J\Ir.  Barnes'  sermon  on  the  "  way  of  salvation."  In 
that  struggle,  they  were  earnest  and  tenacious  in  the  highest  de- 
gree.    At  every  step,  they  felt  that  they  were  contending  for  self. 

"  Mutato  nomine,  de  te, 
Fahula  narratur." 

Througjh  all  the  vicissitudes  of  that  controversy,  the  real  es- 
sence of  the  question  never  varied.     It  was  a  systematic  and  per- 

*  This  principle  is  sanctioned  in  a  resolution  of  the  same  Assembly,  May 

oOth.     "  llcsolved,  that  except  in  very  exJraordinary  cases,  this  Assembly 

are  of  the  opinion  that  Presbyteries  ought  to  be  formed  with  geographical 

limits."     Ergo.     In  extraordinary  cases,  which  may  be  imagined  at  plea- 

*  sure,  the  "  affinity"  plan  may  prevail. 


OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED.  109 

severing  effort  of  those  opposed  to  our  expression  of  doctrine  and 
polity  as  a  church,  to  provide  a  sanctuary  in  our  bosom  for  he- 
retical men,  and  principles,  and  measures.  And  to  afford  them 
ample  facilites  to  maintain  and  propagate  their  peculiar  tenets, 
existing  circumstances  constrain  us  to  believe,  was  the  chief  mo- 
live  which  governed  the  leaders*  in  the  majority  in  the  last  As- 
sembly, in  their  final  vote  upon  that  subject,  and  in  many  kindred 
resolutions  recorded  on  their  minutes.'  These  facts  are  faiily  de- 
ducible,  from  the  transactions  of  the  several  judicatories  partici- 
pating in  the  controversy. 

But  to  place  the  construction  here  presented  beyond  a  doubt, 
the  appellants  from  the  Second  Presbytery  of  Philadelphia,  openly 
avowed,  that  while  their  cause  was  sustained,  in  part,  by  objec- 
tions raised  against  technical  informalities,^  the  proceedings  of 
the  Synod,  it  rested  principally  upon  the  ground  of  an  essential 
and  irreconcilable  difference  with  their  brethren  of  the  Philadel- 
phia Presbytery,  respecting  articles  of  faith.  They  demanded 
the  act,  which  was  passed,  as  the  only  means  of  setting  them  free 
from  f  )rins,  professions,  and  obligations,  which,  with  their  new 
views,  they  could  no  longer  observe.  One  of  the  appellants,  (Dr. 
Ely.)  declared,  that  "  tliey  had  many  opinions  differing  from  their 
brethren  of  the  old  Presbytery,  and  that  they  differed  among 
themselves,  not  too  much,  however,  to  act  harmoniously  together." 
He  urjred  the  suit  for  an  accommodation  act,  after  readinij  a  list 
of  some  of  his  opinions,  to  show  that  they  were  not  so  enormous 
as  had  been  supposed.  An:)ther,  (Rev.  J.  Patterson,)  informed 
the  General  Assembly  "that  he  had  differed  from  the  Confession 
of  Faith  a  long  U-ne,  and  that  he  had  found  it  very  difficult  to  get 
along  with  the  Presbytery  of  Philadelphia."  Ho  stated  very 
gravely,  when  scarcely  any  one  else  was  grave,  that  "he  had 
been  many  vears  en£ca<Ted  in  selectinj;  and  brincrinfi  forward 
/young  menf  for  the  ministry,  and  that  he  had  often  found  it  very 
difficult,  and  sometimes  im|:)ossible,  to  get  them  licensed  by  the 
Presbytery  of  Philadelphia  :;i;  they  were  so  particular  in  adhering 
to  the  Confession  of  Faith,  that  h6  had  on  some  occasions,  plead 
with  them  earnestly  to  license  his  candidates,  but  had  been  com- 

*  We  say  "  the  leaders,"  believing  that  many  who  voted  with  them  were 
actuated  by  different  motives. 

f  A  judicious  writer  in  the  "  Southern  Christian  Herald,"  calls  these  ap- 
propriately, '■'  smuggl<.d,  conirabancl  ministers^' 

%  An  eloquent  eulogium  on  the  purity  and  faithfulness  of  the  Presbytery 
of  Philadelphia,  from  the  lips  of  an  adversary  !  It  has  been  alleged"  that 
their  zeal  is  of  recent  origin,  simultaneous  with  Mr.  Barnes'  removal  to 
Philadelphia.  From  Mr.  Patterson's  statement,  and  our  own  perfect  kno»v- 
ledge,  that  zeal  has  been  uniform  and  consistent,  for  more  than  twenty 
years.  Let  justice  be  dune  to  this  injured  Presbytery.  Magna  est  Veritas 
et  prceralebit. 


ilT)  OLD   SCHOOL    VINDICATED. 

pelled  to  send  them  away  to  be  licensed  by  other  Presbyteries, 
whose  views  accorded  better  with  his  own ;  and  finally,  that  they 
could  not  live  so,  they  must  have  a  Presbytery  to  do  business  just 
as  they  pleased."  The  other  appellants  concurred  with  these 
statements  in  emphatic  language.  The  majority  of  the  Assembly, 
having  perfect  knowledge  of  these  facts,  sustained  the  appeal, 
sanctioning,  by  their  decision,  the  principle  of  "Elective  Affinity.'* 

Had  the  majority  any  ground  on  which  to  protest  and  appeal  .'■ 
Let  us  look  at  this  measure,  to  see  whether  the  Assembly,  in 
passing  that  act,  came  up  to  the  high  mark  of  their  constitutional 
obligation.  What  must  be  the  result  of  this  new  principle?  Pres- 
byteries of  this  spurious  cast,  may  now  be  constituted,  whenever 
suitable  materials  can  be  obtained.  The  disorderly,  the  heretical, 
and  the  discontented^ave  only  to  complain  under  some  plausible 
pretext,  and  their  separation  into  a  distinct  ecclesiastical  body  is 
sure.  To  these,  the  unsound  and  incompetent,  refused  licensure 
by  the  orthodox — and  the  ignorant,  distorted,  and  fanatical  of 
other  churches  and  denominations,  may  flock,  in  the  certain  pros- 
pect of  an  easy  passage  to  the  sacred  office.  To  all  such  Pres- 
byterians, ambitious  of  distinction  and  power,  how  great  will  be 
ihe  temptation,  to  quicken  their  zeal,  and  strain  their  resources, 
in  multiplying  candidates  "  sui  genejns'"  for  the  sacred  ministry? 
They  being  themselves  disaffected  to  the  great  principles  of  Pres- 
byterian order,  and  turned  aside  from  her  precious  faith — is  it  not 
irrational  to  exf)ect  that  their  pupils  will  be  rooted  and  grounded 
in  the  doctrines  of  our  magna  charta  ? 

On  the  contrary,  judging  from  experience  and  facts  before  us, 
may  we  not  confidently  believe  that  many  will  be  precipitately 
pressed  into  the  same  service,  entertaining  theological  opinions 
crude  and  deformed?  Are  we  prepared,  unresistingly,  to  see  this 
revolting  system  carried  out  and  perpetuated  in  the  church  '. 
What  an  nfflicting  spectacle  will  she  then  present,  torn  and  agi- 
tated by  this  great  intestine  division  !  a  division  which  will  pro- 
duce alienations  in  families,  conflicts  in  Pi"esbyteries  and  Synods, 
collisions  of  party  feeling  in  the  important  work  of  education,  of 
revivals,  and  of  missions.  If  union  be  strength,  what  must  be  the 
effect  of  all  pervading  discord  ?  This  evil,  unless  remedied,  will 
soon  find  means  to  exert  a  more  injurious  influence  on  the  supreme 
judicatory  of  the  churtih.*    1  need  not  say  that  the  plan  of  cutting' 

*  "Each  Preslivtery  consistin.s;  of  not  more  than  twenty-four  minister*, 
pliall  send  one  minister  and  one  elder"  to  the  Asseml>ly.  Printed  Minute?. 
1^33,  p.  48G.  "  Any  three  ministers  and  as  many  elders  as  may  be  present,, 
lielon^ing  to  the  Presbytery,  being  met  at  the  time  and  place  appointed. 
sh.1.11  beanuorum  competent  to  proceed  to  business."  "  Of  the  Presbytery.'" 
Form  of  Government,  chap,  x.,  sec.  7.  By  comparing  the  above  constitu- 
tional articles,  the  extent  of  the  abuse  to  which  the  "  elective  affinity"  prin- 
«;i[)le  may  be  curried  in  subdividing  Presbyteries,  becomes  very  apparent. 


OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED.  lit 

up  Presbyteries  by  "elective  affinity,"  will  enable  its  advocates 
unduly  to  augment  their  numbers  in  that  body.  Already  have 
they  acquired  strength  by  this  illegal  system.  Time  will  add  to 
their  power.  While  to  the  adherents  of  the  constitution,  a  cor- 
responding privilege  has  been  peremptorily  refused. 

Have  the  General  Assembly,  in  passing  this  act,  come  up  to 
the  high  mark  of  their  prescribed  duty,  to  be  "  a  bond  of  union, 
peace,  and  mutual  confidence,  among  all  our  churches"?  The 
principle  sanctioned  organize's  the  Presbyterian  body  into  two 
great  parties.  It  grants  to  the  errorists  a  discharge  from  their 
ordination  vows;  it  gives  them  liberty  to  differ  at  pleasure;  it  re- 
moves the  restrictions  they  complained  of;  it  affords  the  facilities 
they  ask  for;  it  holds  out  large  encouragement  to  every  wild  and 
daring  speculator  on  our  Book  of  Faith;  it  provides  ample  scope 
for  the  influx  and  diffusion  of  spurious  notions,  whether  they  pro- 
ceed from  constitutional  peculiarities  of  men,  their  inventive  fer- 
tility, their  false  philosophy,  their  pride,  their  prejudices,  their  sec- 
tarian jealousies,  their  infidel  whims  and  subtleties.  We  are  not 
deceived  :  and  the  intelligent  of  the  church  cannot  fail  correctly 
to  estimate  this  point.  J^et  it  not  be  said  in  extenuation,  that  the 
differences  are  small.  Their  true  nature  and  magnitude  will  here- 
after form  a  topic  of  illustration.  But  supposing  the  difference  to 
be  small  at  present,  who  can  justly  estimate  its  future  character 
and  progress  ?  This  new  theory  is  now,  among  us,  in  its  first 
stages;  it  has  existed  hitherto  under  strong  restraints,  and  in  the 
keeping,  chiefly,  of  men  possessing  some  age  and  maturity  of 
character,  which  affords  a  partial  security  against  its  ultimate 
and  most  deleterious  results.  But  who  can  calculate  the  conse- 
quences of  committing  speculations,  calling  in  question  the  funda- 
mental truths  of  the  gospel,  to  ardent  young  men,  inexperienced, 
unfurnished,  impetuous,  and  injudicious,  liable  to  be  "  carried 
about  by  every  wind  of  doctrine,  by  the  slight  of  man,  and  cun- 
ning craftiness"?  Eph.  iv.,  14.  Ought  we  not  to  fear  a  sad  dete- 
rioration in  our  system?  in  our  faith,  erasures,  perversions,  and 
cngrafiures?  in  government,  collision  and  confusion,  and  following 
in  the  train,  a  deep  defection  from  the  vitals  of  Christianity  ? 

They  say,  the  difference  is  "indefinite."  That  it  is  indefinite, 
beyond  a  narrow  limit  already  ascertained,  greatly  aggravates 
the  evil.  It  is  indefinite,  as  to  the  number  of  points  it  may  extend 
to,  in  doctrine,  in  morals,  in  discipline;  indefinite,  as  to  the  nuni- 

A  Presbytery  containing  twenty-three  members,  and  entitled  to  one  eom- 
T'lissinner,  may  be  subdivided  so  as  to  secure  seven  votes  in  the  Assembly. 
Let  this  Hydra  loose  upon  the  church,  and  you  may  write  her  destiny  in 
the  lament  of  the  poet— 

"  fuit  Ilium  et  ingens 
Gloria  Teucrorum." 


112  OLD    SCHOOT.    VINDICATED. 

ber  of  individuals,  of  churches,  of  Presbyteries,  of  Synods,  it  may 
infect ;  indefinite,  as  to  the  desolating  mischiefs  it  may  accomplish. 
And  are  ihe  minority  to  sit,  and  see,  and  hear,  without  emotion ''. 
to  witness  all  this,  or  hold  it  in  fearful  anticipation,  and  be  silent? 
Are  we  to  become  traitors  to  the  church,  and  to  her  exalted  Lord, 
hy  unresisting  submission  to  this  usurpation  of  power,  prostration 
of  rights,  and  legalizina;  of  warfare?  VV^e  throw  ourselves  into  the 
breach,  we  meet  the  contingence,  we  call  upon  all  who  love  the 
uncorrupled  church  to  follow  in  this  last  resort,  to  restore  her 
purity,  and  perpetuate  her  glory. 

A  Member  of  New  Brunswick  PaEsrivxERV. 

No.  IV^—  1834. 

^'  Act  and  Testimony." — Katn.e  and  duty  of  the  Assembly — olli- 
gntions  and  rights  of  the  Church. 
In  a  great  religious  community,  covering  extensive  territory, 
and  embracing  a  population  variegated  by  national  extraction,  by 
sectional  jealousies,  by  genius,  by  education,  and  by  climate,  a 
jiower  of  decided  iniluence,  of  all  pervading  and  increasing  ac- 
tivity, is  indispensably  necessary  to  hold  this  great  fraternity  to- 
gether, to  produce  unity  of  feeling  and  inovenjents,  uniformity  in. 
all  its  prominent  and  essenti;il  features.  A  body  possessing  this 
commanding  influence,  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church  was  intended  to  -be.  To  this  end,  all  its  constitutional 
designations,  of  power,  of  duty,  and  of  responsibility,  are  solemnly 
directed.  As  a  legislative  body,  as  an  appellate  court,  as  a  stan- 
dard of  theological  correctness  and  moral  purity,  and  as  the  su- 
preme authoritative  supervisor,  under  the  Great  Head  of  the 
church,  its  course  of  action  and  its  character  are  imiTiensely  im- 
{iortant.  Upon  its  purity  and  fidelity  hang  the  destinies  of  mil- 
lions. The  duty  of  guarding  against  the  introduction  of  errors 
into  the  church,  is  incumbent  upon  private  members — upon  all 
olHce-bearers — and  upon  all  inferior  judicatories;  but  it  is,  with 
extreme  solemnity  and  pointedness,  enjoined  upon  the  Genera! 
Assembly.  Chap,  xii.,  sec.  5,  Form  of  Government.  "To  the 
General  Assembly  belongs  the  power  of  deciding  in  all  contro- 
versies respecting  truth  and  discipline;  of  reproving,  warning,  or 
bearing  testiiiiony  against  error  in  doctrine  or  immorality  in  prac- 
tice, in  any  church,  Presbytery,  or  Synod;  of  superintending  the 
concerns  of  the  whole  cliurch  ;  of  suppressing  schismatical  conten- 
tions and  disputations;  and,  in  general,  of  recommending  and 
attempting  reformation  of  manners  and  the  promotion  of  charity, 
truth,  and  holiness,  through  all  the  churches  under  their  care." 
Here  the  Assembly  is  constituled  the  chief  depository  of  conserva- 
tive powers,  for  the  church.  It  cannot  be  doubted,  that,  if  the 
Assembly  discharge  its  responsible  duties  faithfully,  and  exhibit 


OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED.  113 

in  its  various  transactions,  purity,  wisdom,  and  energy,  a  firm  and 
consistent  adherence  to  constitutional  laws  and  requirements,  the 
effect  will  be  visibly  of  the  most  salutary  kind,  in  sustaining  the 
character  and  improving  the  condition  of  the  church.  If,  on  the 
contrary,  it  prove  tardy,  vacillating,  or  inefficient  when  duty 
calls,  if  it  show  indifference  to  the  church's  real  interest,  depart 
from  its  own  impressive  directory,  give  occasion  even  to  suspect 
its  honesty,  its  influence  must  decline,  the  church's  confidence  in 
it  will  be  'shaken,  the  momentous  trust  committed  to  it  must  suf- 
fer. The  moment  the  Assembly  relaxes  in  the  performance  of 
its  sacred  guardianship,  that  moment  the  vital  interests  of  the 
church  are  exposed  to  violence  ;  the  bond  of  union,  through  all  its 
tender  and  delicate  ramifications,  is  weakened.  For  let  it  be  se- 
riously called  to  mind,  that  character  constitutes  the  sine  qua  non 
— the  moral  force — the  effective  existence  of  the  Assembly.  Its 
conduct,  its  acts,  its  decisions,  are  the  tests,  the  evidence  of  thai 
character,  in  the  estimation  of  all  intelligent  and  candid  men. 

This  great  ecclesiastical  body  is  representative  in  its  nature ; 
Presbyteries,  including  the  church,  gave  it  being  and  constitute 
its  body.  It  was  established  for  the  benefit  of  the  whole.  Its  duty 
is  clearly  defined  in  the  constitution — its  rule  of  action  is  definite 
and  immutable.  Created  by  the  will  of  Presbyteries,  it  exists  at 
their  pleasure.  The  obligation  to  obedience  resting  upon  the 
church,  is  binding  only  while  the  original  compact  is  preserved 
inviolate.  We  recognize  in  the  Assembly  no  common  law,  no 
discretionary  power.  Before  a  new  measure  can  be  obligatory 
upon  the  church,  it  must  be  transmitted  to  the  Presbyteries,  and 
be  sanctioned  by  a  majority  of  them.  Form  of  Government,  chap, 
xii.,  sec.  G.  The  written  constitution  is  the  supreme  law  of  the 
Assembly  in  all  its  doings.  Pi'esbyteries,  and  through  them  and 
with  them,  the  great  body  of  the  church,  are  the  constitutional 
expounders  of  law  and  the  arbiters  in  every  constitutional  matter. 
Their  judgment,  on  every  subject,  may  be  obtained  by  reference; 
when  that  is  neglected  or  refused  by  the  Assembly,  the  introduc- 
tion of  a  measure  before  untried,  of  dangerous  or  doubtful  ten- 
dency, may  justify  or  even  compel  that  resort,  without  the  inter- 
vention of  the  Assembly.  It  is  perfectly  plain,  that  making  that 
body  the  judge  of  its  own  actions  without  popular  appeal,  is 
equivalent  to  surrendering  religious  freedom  altog-ether,  and  au- 
thorizing tyranny  by  law. 

There  is,  of  necessity,  as  in  all  human  governments,  a  limit 
somewhere,  at  which  ecclesiastical  despotism  begins,  and  passive- 
submission  is  no  longer  a  duty.  When  the  Assembly,  by  uncon- 
stitutional measures,  reach  that  point,  anarchy  ensues,  which  is 
the  state  immediately  preceding  revolution.  The  irregular  and 
unsound  proceedings  of  this  body,  becoming  for  years  more  and 

H 


114  OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED. 

more  suspicious  and  ofTensive,  have  at  Jast  brougiit  the  Presbyte- 
rian Church  to  this  deplorable  and  eventful  crisis.  A  single,  or 
an  occasional  act — even  a  succession  of  measures — unwise  and 
injurious,  should  not  be  permitted  to  produce  resuhs  so  serious,  at 
least,  till  full  opportunity  is  afforded  to  redress  what  has  been 
done  amiss.  But  when  a  series  of  transactions,  insidiously  com- 
menced in  the  Assembly,  is  pertinaciously  pursued  for  years, 
against  murmurs,  expostulations,  and  entreaties — transactions 
tending,  if  not  by  positive  design,  at  least  by  just  construction 
and  certain  operation,  to  introduce  principles  in  doctrine  and  dis- 
cipline, incompatible  with  received  standards,  infringing  the  rights 
of  subordinate  judicatories,  of  individual  ministers,  elders,  and 
members  of  the  church,  and  subversive  of  all  purity  and  order  in 
the  system — then  it  becomes  the  imperative  duty  of  every  one 
solemnly  to  pause,  and  consider  the  nature  and  extent  of  the  obli- 
gations which  are  binding  upon  the  Presbyterian  body. 

When  the  General  Assembly  assume  and  exercise  the  right  of 
setting  aside  constitutional  provisions,  and  erecting  Presbyteries 
on  the  novel  principle  of  •'  elective  affinity,^'  as  now  justly  ex- 
plained and  understood,  does  it  not  virtually,  and  by  fair  implica- 
tion, discharge  a  portion  of  its  ministers  from  allegiance  to  the 
approved  standards  and  forms?  And  if  a  part  be  so  discharged, 
for  purposes  of  doubtful  policy,  or  to  favour  heresy,  can  the  resi- 
due be  justly  considered  bound  to  obey?  Is  there  not  here  then,  a 
total  disruption  of  the  ecclesiastical  compact?  Again:  When  the 
Assembly  attempts,  directly,  or  indirectly,  to  "  teach  for  doctrines 
(he  commandments  of  merj,"  we  ask,  in  view  of  the  unavoidable 
consequences,  and  in  the  impressive  language  of  an  Apostle, 
"Ought  wc  not  to  obey  God  rather  than  men?"  (Jan  any  Pres- 
bytery, minister,  elder,  or  member  of  the  Presl)yterian  body,  can 
any  man  of  religious  principle,  in  any  conceivable  situation  upon 
earth,  be  bound  in  conscience,  to  obey  that  authority  whose  dic- 
tates conflict  with  the  inspiration  and  commryid  of  God,  to  believe 
and  propagate  tenets  which  militate  against  his  law  and  his  truth  ? 
which  are  disorganizing  in  his  moral  empire,  and  ruinous  to  the 
souls  of  men  ? 

Here  let  it  be  distinctly  observed,  that  in  political  confederations, 
where  civil  right,  and  temporal  aggrandisement,  sustained  by  hu- 
man expedients  and  fluctuating  policy,  are  the  governing  objects, 
flagrant  errors  and  evils  may  exist,  and  exist  long,  under  vurious 
forms,  and  be  honestly  endured  in  quietness,  widiout  involving  a 
violation  of  moral  obligation  on  the  one  part,  or  on  the  other  a 
dissolution  of  the  compact.  But  in  a  religious  community,  based 
upon  faith  and  piety,  conscience  is  the  great  principle,  which  be- 
comes the  subject  of  administration.  It  cannot  act  by  proxy;  it 
cannot  transfer  to  any  government  that  allegiance  which  it  pri- 


OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED.  115 

marily  and  unalienably  owes  to  the  God  of  conscience;  it  cannot 
bow  in  submission  to  any  administration,  not  clearly  ascertained 
to  be  estatjlisiied  and  acting  in  conformity  with  the  known  will  of 
God,  the  supreme  lawgiver  and  universal  judge.  Enlightened  and 
faithful  conscience,  at  every  step  of  her  moral  action,  must  up- 
rightly and  freely  appeal  to  the  standard  she  has  adopted,  to  as- 
certain her  own  duty,  and  not  less  to  test  the  correctness  of  those 
under  whose  authority,  or  in  concert  with  whom  she  may  attempt 
to  act.  Jn  relation  to  all  such,  whether  viewed  in  tTieir  individual 
or  collective  capacity,  her  language  must  ever  be,  unconstitutional 
law  is  illegal  law,  is  immoral  law,  is  no  law.  The  principles  here 
stated,  we  hold  to  be  founded  in  the  n;»ture  of  man,  in  his  relation 
to  God,  in  our  ecclesiastical  system,  and  in  the  reason  of  things. 
They  are  applicable  to  all  governments,  they  have  been  recog- 
nized by  the  wisest  statesmen  and  soundest  jurists,  in  all  compacts, 
social,  civil,  and  sacred.  Our  si^le  object  is  fairly  to  represent  the 
General  Assembly,  in  organisation  and  administration,  and  to  test 
the  legitimacy  of  its  acts,  by  these  incontrovertible  principles. 

To  afford  the  Assembly  the  best  possible  aid  in  discharging  its 
virduous  trust,  to  enable  it  to  become  familiarly  acquainted  with 
the  details  of  evil  experienced  or  apprehended  in  every  part  of 
the  interesting  community  placed  in  its  keeping,  provision  is  made 
in  its  constitution  and  rules,  and  sanctioned  by  its  practice,  for 
extending  to  all  liberty  of  access,  by  memorial,  complaint,  or  pe- 
tition. Here  originates  a  most  critical  relation.  Large  compila- 
tions of  testimony,  accompanied  with  deliberate  suggestions  to  the 
Assembly,  as  to  its  proper  policy  in  relation  to  existing  evils  in 
remote  districts,  anxious  and  importunate  solicitations  from  iin- 
portant  sections,  and  numerous  individuals  of  the  church,  for  the 
application  of  its  influence  to  check  errors  and  abuses,  involve  on 
their  part  privileges  and  rights,  and  on  its  part,  obligations  and 
duties,  the  neglect  o^  wliick-is  incompatihie  with  the  harmony  and 
welfare  of  the  church.  It  is  not  in  the  nature  of  man,  in  his  so- 
cial, civil,  or  ecclesiastical  state,  to  respect  that  authority  which 
is  indifferent  alike  to  his  rights  and  to  his  wrongs,  and  which 
closes  the  ear,  with  rebuke  and  repulse,  against  his  suffering  and 
supplicating  accents.  Until  recently  the  Assembly  has  evinced  a 
profound  regard  to  the  view  above  expressed.  Its  records  exhibit 
the  interesting  character  of  a  dignified,  impartial,  vigilant,  and 
faithful  parent  of  a  numerous  household,  solicitously  guarding 
their  interests,  providing  for  their  wants,  hearing  complaints, 
warning  against  danger,  speaking  comfortably  to  the  troubled, 
healing  divisions,  indulging  no  sympathies  for  party,  no  affinity 
for  novelty,  employing  the  wisest  and  the  best  means  possible  for 
the  benefit  and  happiness  of  the  whole  family. 

In  support  of  these  facts,  we  refer  to  the  minutes  of  the  Assem- 


116  OLD   SCHOOL    VINDICATED. 

bly.  In  1787,  the  Synod  of  New  York  and  Philadelphia,  sub- 
stantially the  same  body  with  the  General  Assembly,  adopted  the 
following  minute:  "  Whereas,  the  doctrine  of  Universal  Salva- 
tion and  of  the  finite  duration  of  hell  torments,  has  been  propa- 
gated by  sundry  persons  in  the  United  Stales  of  America,  and  the 
people  under  our  care  may  possibly,  froin  their  occasional  con- 
versation with  the  propagators  of  such  a  dangerous  opinion,  be 
infected  by  the  doctrine,  the  Synod  take  this  opportunity  to  de- 
clare their  utter  abhorrence  of  such  doctrines,  as  they  apprehend 
to  be  subversive  of  the  fundamental  principles  of  religion  and  mo- 
rality, and  therefore  earnestly  recommend  to  all  their  Presbyte- 
ries and  members,  to  be  watchful  on  this  subject,  and  to  guard 
against  the  introduction  of  such  tenets  amongst  our  people."  This 
is  a  noble  example  presented  early  by  the  great  leaders  in  learn- 
ing and  piety  in  this  western  world.  Let  us  see  how  closely  and 
eonsistently  it  is  follovi-ed  up.  In  1798,  the  Genei'al  Assembly 
speak  thus:  "  We  take  the  present  occasion  of  declaring  our  uni- 
form adherence  to  th^e  doctrines  contained  in  our  Confession  of 
Faith,  in  their  present  plain  and  intelligible  form,  and  Sxed  deter- 
mination to  maintain  them,  against  all  innovations.  We  earnestly 
wish  that  nothing  subversive  of  these  doctrines  may  be  suffered  to 
exist,  or  be  circulated  amongst  the  churches.  We  hope  that  new 
explanations  of  our  own  principles,  by  unusual  and  offensive 
phrases,  will  be  cautiously  guarded  against,  lest  the  feelings  of 
Christians  should  be  wounded,  the  cause  of  religion  injured,  and 
the  enemy  take  occasion  to  triumph  and  blaspheme.  VVe  are  ex- 
tremely anxious  that  the  peace  of  the  church,  as  well  as  its  purity 
of  doctrine,  may  be  preserved  inviolate."  In  1805,  the  Assembly 
evidences  the  same  spirit,  and  firmly  declares,  "  That  it  is  by  no 
means  to  be  considered  as  a  vulgar  or  unfounded  prejudice,  when 
alarm  is  excited  by  alterations  and  innovations  in  the  creed  of  a 
church.  There  are  many  reasons  of  a  most  weighty  kind,  that 
will  dispose  every  man  of  sound  judgment  and  accurate  observa- 
tion, to  regard  a  spirit  of  change,  in  this  particular,  as  an  evil 
pregnant  with  a  host  of  mischiefs."* 

The  proceedings  of  the  General  Assembly  in  1798,  against  the 
Rev.  H.  Balch,  charged  with  preaching  and  publishing  false  doc- 
trines, evince  a  faithful  and  jealous  regard  to  the  purity  of  the 
church^a  high  sense  of  duty  and  responsibility  in  that  sacred 
body.  Most  diligent  inquisition  was  made  by  the  Assembly  into 
his  errors;  his  publications  were  laboriously  examined;  ever}^ 
thing  spurious  and  infecting  was  pointedly  designated  for  public 
reprobation;  and  the  solemn  mark  of  ecclesiastical  condemnation 
impressed  upon  every  a^rticle  Qsleemed  ujnsound  and  unsafe.f 

*  Digest,  pp.  134^  137-,.  139-^also  eld  printed  Minutes,  f  Digest,  pp.  131, 132. 


OLD   SCHOOL   VINDICATED.  117 

The  Assembly  of  1810,  in  their  proceedings  against  a  heretical 
book,  published  by  W.  C.  Davis,  called  the  "Gospel  Plan,"  mani- 
fested the  same  firm  and  consistent  zeal  to  purify  and  guard  the 
church.  They  declared  the  doctrines  asserted  and  advocated  by 
that  book,  to  be  contrary  to  the  Confession  of  Faith  and  the  Word 
of  God,  and  of  a  tendency  dangerous  to  the  souls  of  men.* 

It  cannot  for  a  moment  be  doubted,  that  if  the  Assembly  had 
continued  to  pursue  this  vigilant  and  faithful  course,  the  present 
corrupt  and  deplorable  state  of  the  church  would  have  been  pre- 
vented.^ The  conviction  arises,  by  just  inference,  that  the  errors 
and  distractions  now  existing  must  be  traced  to  its  unwise,  un- 
faithful, and  temporising  measures. 

A  Member  of  New  Bruxswick  Presbytery. 

No.  V. — November,  1834. 

-^^  Act  and   Testimony." — Additional  ground — Resolutions  of  the 

Assembly. 

Evasion  has  been  the  policy  of  the  General  Assembly  for  seve- 
ral successive  years,  when  threatening  evils  hax^e  been  urgently 
pressed  upon  its  attention.  Memorials,  complaints,  and  requests, 
from  individuals,  from  Presbyteries,  and  from  Synods,  have  passed 
unheeded,  or  been  dismissed  for  reasons  so  slight  and  equivocal, 
as  to  invalidate  public  confidence,  destroy  the  hope  of  reform  by 
ordinary  means,  and  aggravate  the  very  evils  complained  of. 

The  history  of  the  Western  Memorial,  stands  as  a  striking  illus- 
tration of  these  remarks.  This  was  a  document  prepared  with 
care,  signed  by  many  office-bearers  in  the  church,  most  of  w'hom 
were  orthodox  ministers  of  the  gospel ;  it  embodied  a  vast  amount 
of  weighty  matter,  and  was  couched  in  decorous  and  appropriate 
language;  it  neither  expresses  nor  implies  the  censure  of  indi- 
viduals, or  of  church  judicatories,  any  farther  than  was  absolutely 
unavoidable  in  telling  the  honest  truth.  This  impressive  commu- 
nication was  treated  by  the  Assembly  with  marked  disrespect. 
In  violation 'of  parliamentary  precedent,  of  its  own  usages,  of 
common  sense,  of  common  justice  and  courtesy,  unread  and  un- 
heard, it  was  referred  to  a  committee,  and  never  known  to  a  large 
portion  of  the  house  till  presented  in  the  report  of  that  committee; 
a  report  in  its  main  character  Jesuitical  and  unsound,  hostile  to 
the  purity  and  order  of  tbe  church,  and  calculated  to  prejudice 
every  mind,  and  especially  to  mislead  the  unwary,  in  regard  to 
the  matter  involved. 

This  report  constitutes  one  of  the  most  extraordinary  ecclesi- 
astical documents  to  which  modern  times  have  given  birth.  It 
foears  marks  of  labour,  and  deserves  attention.     But  it  interests 

*  Digest,  pp.  144, 148. 


118  OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED. 

chiefly,  as  an  index  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  a  criterion  of  the 
theological  cast  of  the  majority  of  the  last  Assembly,  and  a  cor- 
rect devolopemenl  of  their  designs.  Indeed,  it  may  be  viewed  as 
a  lucid  commentary  upon  the  complex  and  enigmatical  proceed- 
ings of  several  recent  General  Assemblies.  The  orthodox  part  of 
that  body,  and  of  the  church  in  general,  who  have  some  time 
looked  on  in  doubt  and  wonder,  suspecting  that  all  was  not  right 
with  tiiose  who  appeared  to  be  carrying  the  ark  and  testimony, 
have  reason  to  thank  the  rulers  in  the  last  Assembly  for  giving  so 
full  a  manifesto  as  these  resolutions  afford.  They  are  just  what 
was  needed  to  shed  full  light  upon  sundry  previous  measures, 
somewhat  obscure;  and  by  elucidating  what  was  dark,  they  aug- 
ment and  confirm  every  suspicion  that  existed.  In  considering 
them,  we  must  bear  in  mind  the  history  of  several  past  years. 
Events  are  often  best  interpreted  by  adverting  to  previous  and  at- 
tending circumstances. 

The  following  notorious  facts  are  admitted  by  candid  men; 
that  erroneous  doctrinal  opinions  have  for  years  existed  in  the 
Presbyterian  Church,  been  extensively  circulated  from  the  pulpit, 
and  in  printed  sermons,  books,  and  journals;  that  the  General  As- 
sembly have  studiously  avoided  inquiring  into  this  subject,  resisted 
all  modes  of  detection  and  exposure,  cordially  admitted  men,  re- 
puted heretical,  into  its  councils,  conferred  upon  them  its  high 
honours  and  trusts;  that  the  Assembly  have,  without  uttering  a 
syllable  of  disapprobation,  connived  at  Presbyteries  licensing  and 
ordaining  candidates  known  to  be  unsound  in  the  faith,  both  reared 
within  its  own  limits  and  coming  from  theological  seminaries 
known  to  be  at  variance  with  our  standards;  that  the  party 
prompting  and  directing  these  inroads  upon  our  constitutional 
faith  and  order,  growing  confident  and  reckless  by  the  wide  dif- 
fusion of  their  disorganizing  influence  and  the  increased  number 
of  their  adherents,  have  at  last  reduced  the  propagation  of  heresy 
to  system,  by  establishing  "elective  affinity"  Presbyteries  in  va- 
rious parts  of  the  church,  thus  putting  error  out  of  -the  reach  of 
correction,  and  affording  every  desired  facility  to  multiply  its 
abettors,  and  extend  its  baneful  influence  through  the  land. 

The  resolutions  before  us  are  a  continuation  of  the  corrupting 
and  revolutionary  process,  to  which  we  have  referred  in  the 
above  remarks.  That  they  are  calculated,  if  observed,  to  give  it 
unrestrained  efficacy  in  the  church,  we  honestly  think  will  abun- 
dantly appear  from  candid  examination. 

Before  entering  upon  this  review,  candour  requires  the  writer 
further  to  declare,  that  while  he  considers  the  majority  in  the  last 
Assembly,  in  the  aggregate,  responsible  for  the  acts  in  view,  and 
all  their  injurious  consequences,  he  has  strong  reason  to  believe, 
and  with  pleasure  admits  the  idea,  that  probably  a  considerable 


OLD   SCHOOL   VINDICATE!?.  US' 

part  of  that  majority  are  favorable  to  orthodoxy,  and  were  in- 
fluenced, in  their  votes  adverse  to  it,  by  mistaken  views  of  the 
question  presented,  and  by  wrong  impressions  artfully  made  upon 
them.  But  whatever  estimate  may  be  made  on  this  point,  the 
measures  of  the  majority  are  not  altered  by  it,  nor  is  their  inju- 
rious effect  upon  the  church  hindered.  As  to  all  practical  results 
in  matters  of  this  kind,  they  are  substantially  the  same,  whether 
all  the  actors  were  honestly  of  one  heart  and  mind,  or  whether  a 
part  of  them,  from  timidity,  from  misapprehension,  from  modera- 
tion, as  it  is  called,  or  from  false  impressions,  lent  their  names  to 
assist  designing  leaders  in  accomplishing  their  object.  It  is  not 
our  duty,  nor  is  it  in  our  power,  to  separate  the  pure,  if  such  there 
be,  from  the  corrupt.  It  is  the  right  and  the  duty  of  those  who 
are  injured  by  the  classification  to  which  they  have  consigned 
themselves  by  their  own  acts,  to  come  out  and  remove  the  re- 
proach, by  a  seasonable  and  honest  correction  of  their  error. 

To  discover  the  true  import  of  the  resolutions  passed  in  the 
Assembly,  on  Friday,  30th  of  May,  and  marked  numerically,  1, 
5,  7,  8,  11,  it  is  necessary  to  read  them  in  immediate  succession, 
as  they  are  most  obviously  part  of  a  system  which  has  been  con- 
secutively observed  through  a  long  train  of  measures. 

The  series  commences  in  the  following  terms :  "  Resolved,  That 
this  Assembly  cannot  sanction  the  censure  contained  in  the  me- 
morial, against  proceedings  and  measures  of  former  General  As- 
sembl'ies."  This  is  the  first  response  given  to  the  most  numerous 
and  respectable  company  of  memorialists  ever  recognized  in  any 
ecclesiastical  judicatory  in  the  United  States;  a  body  of  ministers 
and  men  as  numerous  and  respectable  as  the  Assembly  itself 
This  startling  resolution  certainly  requires  elucidation. 

The  first  idea  which  presents  itself  to  the  reader's  mind  is  this ; 
Does  the  General  Assembly  seriously  pretend  to  enter  a  claim,  in 
behalf  of  its  counsels  and  the  measures  of  its  predecessors,  to  ab- 
solute perfection  and  infallibility?  This  is  too  ludicrous  to  be  be- 
lieved ;  and  yet  its  language  really  seems  to  indicate  a  disposition 
to  take  a  seat  by  the  side  of  Mother  Church  and  the  Roman  Pon- 
tiff. Again :  does  the  Assembly  intend  to  deny  to  individual  min- 
isters, laymen,  and  subordinate  judicatories,  the  right  of  consider- 
ing and  criticising  its  acts?  exposing  what  they  consider  errors 
and  delinquencies?  complaining  of  injuries  done  to  themselves 
and  to  the  church?  asking  at  its  hands,  the  redress  of  grievances 
arising  from  its  own  unfaithful  and  injurious  measures?  Let  "the 
great  congregation,"  who  are  deeply  interested,  look  into  this 
matter.  This  is  a  day  of  light  and  a  land  of  freedom.  If  civil 
rights  are  dear,  religious  rights  are  much  more  so.  Here  is  room 
for  a  just  and  wholesome  jealousy.  Tyranny  seldom  speaks  out 
boldly  and  openly  at  first.    How  are  errors  to  be  delected,  abuses 


llSQ  OLD   SCHOOL   VINDICATED. 

corrected,  our  ecclesiastical  system  to  be  properly  guarded,  but 
by  free  inquiry  and  discussion  1  And  shall  the  Assembly,  which  is 
chiefly  bound  to  prompt  and  foster  means  of  safety  and  improve- 
ment, be  countenanced  in  any  attempts  to  curtail  our  Christian 
rights  and  liberties  ?  Principiis  ohsta  ! 

But  which  are  the  "  former  General  Assemblies"  referred  to  m 
this  first  resolution  ?  This  is  a  point  of  consequence,  and  of  easy 
solution.  The  letter  and  spirit  of  the  Memorial  coincide  most 
strikingly  with  the  measures  of  the  General  Assen^bly  of  1787, 
of  1798,  of  1805,  and  of  1810,  whose  transactions  were  particu- 
larly recited  in  number  jfit;e  of  this  series,  and,  indeed,  this  Memo- 
rial corresponds  admirably  with  the  doings  of  all  the  Generai 
Assemblies  of  our  church  who  have  manifested  a  faithful  regard 
for  purity  of  faith,  and  correctness  of  discipline.  The  resolution 
before  us,  therefore,  certainly  does  not  refer  to  them ;  for  there  is 
not  the  shadow  of  a  discrepancy  between  them  and  the  Memorial. 
To  which  General  Assemblies,  then,  we  ask,  does  this  resolution 
refer?  The  answer  is  obvious,  and  cannot  be  mistaken.  To  cer- 
tain more  modern  Assemblies,  who  have  been  successively,  for 
years  past,  tampering  w^ilh  the  disorders  and  errors  complained 
oU  and  by  evasion  or  connivance  affording  them  entrance,  and 
providing  them  a  secure  asylum  in  the  bosom  of  the  church> 
According  to  the  true  meaning  of  this  resolution,  when  correctly 
interpreted,  the  memorialists  are  permitted,  in  any  manner  they 
please,  to  assail  the  former  venerable  orthodox  Assemblies  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church,  who  have  been  from  her  foundation,  the 
defenders  of  her  faith  and  purity,  but  they  may  not  utter  a  whis- 
per against  those  recent  Assemblies,  who  have  favoured  importa- 
tions of  heresy  and  disorder  into  the  bosom  of  the  church.  To 
these  the  last  Assembly  felt  a  peculiarly  strong  elective  affinity — 
these,  therefore,  must  be  guarded  as  the  apple  of  the  eye! 

We  cannot  help  remarking  farther  in  this  connexion,  that  the 
dictators  in  the  majority  of  the  last  Assembly,  present  themselves 
in  this  resolution,  on  another  account,  in  a  light  which  reflects 
very  little  credit  on  their  sagacity,  their  integrity,  or  their  con- 
sistency. They  appear  not  to  have  observed,  that  while  they  are 
denouncing  the  memorialists  for  their  implied  censure  against 
some  former  General  Assemblies,  they  are  themselves,  in  the 
whole  tenor  of  their  measures,  making  war  against  all  the  Gene- 
ral Assemblies  of  our  church  that  have  convened  for  fifty  years, 
excepting  a  very  few  of  the  most  recent,  in  which  this  tender 
sympathy  for  heresy  and  misrule  began  to  appear.  The  facts  are 
truly  degrading  to  the  abettors  of  this  measure,  and  grievous  to 
the  friends  of  the  church  ;  but  honesty  is  the  best  policy.  And  we 
shall  honestly  endeavour  to  lay  the  whole  of  this  dark  business 
bare  to  the  public  view. 


OLD   SCHOOL    VINDICATED.  121 

Resolution  No.  5  asserts :  "  That  this  Assembly  bears  solemn 
testimony  against  publishing  to  the  world  ministers  in  good  and 
regular-standing,  as  heretical  and  dangerous,  without  being  con- 
stitutionally tried  and  condemned,  thereby  greatly  hindering  their 
usefulness  as  ministers  of  Jesus  Christ.  Our  excellent  constitution 
makes  ample  provision  for  redressing  all  such  grievances,  and 
this  Assembly  enjoins  in  all  cases,  a  faithful  compliance  in  meek- 
ness and  brotherly  love  with  its  requisitions,  having  at  all  times  a 
sacred  regard  to  the  purity,  peace,  and  prosperity  of  the  church." 

If  honest  constitutional  investigation  were  really  intended  ii) 
this  resolution,  the  itinerant  and  fluctuating  condition  of  many  of 
her  ministers  would  present  serious  obstacles  in  the  way  of  regu- 
lar process.  By  inspecting  the  printed  statistical  tables  of  the 
General  Assembly  for  the  year  1833,  it  will  be  seen,  that  of  eigh- 
teen hundred  ministers,  the  whole  number  in  the  Presbyterian 
Church,  eleven  hundred  are  without  pastoral  charge,  employed 
as  professors,  stated  supplies,  missionaries,  teachers,  and  agents, 
having,  in  a  multitude  of  instances,  no  Presbyterial  connexion,  in 
the  immediate  sphere  of  their  labours.  Hence  it  is  obvious,  that 
discipline,  however  much  needed  and  desired,  could  not  be  en- 
forced in  many  cases,  without  great  difficulty  and  delay.  Here 
is  difficulty  enough,  without  any  augmentation  from  the  unwise 
and  injurious  legislation  of  the  Assembly.  But  we  are  constrained 
to  express  our  belief,  that  the  agency  of  the  Assembly  in  relation 
to  this  subject,  when  comprehensivel}'"  viewed  and  fully  carried 
out,  tends  to  encourage  heresy,  and  to  defeat  discipline  altogether. 

This  is  our  first  objection  to  the  fifth  resolution.  Havipg,  by 
introducing  the  "affinity"  system,  sanctioned  the  introduction  of 
unsound  men  into  the  ministry,  the  Assembly  are  perfectly  con- 
sistent with  themselves,  in  attempting  to  shelter  them  from  cen- 
sure, as  far  as  possible,  in  their  public  ministry.  Indeed,  they 
would  be  unfaithful  to  their  own  illegitimate  progeny,  did  they 
not  at  least  attempt  their  protection.  How  is  this  screen  to  be 
drawn  around  these  Jiolders  and  propagators  of  error?  Let  us 
see.  The  Assembly  hold  themselves  up  as  rigid  champions  for 
'^constitutional  trial,"  ad  captandum,  they  "enjoin  a  faithful  com- 
pliance W'ith  the  requisitions  of  the  constitution."  It  often  hap- 
pens, when  heretical  artifice  is  at  work,  that  men  acting  from  the 
worst  principles,  use  the  same  language  as  those  professing  the 
best.  We  fear  it  is  so  here.  The  Assembly  had,  a  few  days 
preceding,  established  the  Second  Presbytery  of  Philadelphia. 
The  avowed  object  of  that  measure  was  to  collect  that  portion  of 
the  Presbytery  of  Philadelphia,  who  differed  from  the  Confession 
of  Faith  in  theological  views,  in  one  Presbytery,  where  they 
might,  unmolested  by  the  orthodox,  maintain  and  propagate  their 
new  opinions.     The  act  referred  to,  was  particularly  an  accom- 


122  OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED. 

inodalion  to  Mr.  Barnes,  who,  in  his  printed  sermon,  had  de- 
nounced the  "  framework  of  faith  that  has  been  reared  around 
the  Bible,"  see  9ih  page.  All  this,  the  act  of  ihe  Assembly  on 
that  subject  sanctions.  Now,  we  ask  how  Mr.  Barnes,  or  any 
man,  can  be  brought  to  "  constitutional  trial"  in  that  Presbytery, 
while  they  retain  their  present  character  and  claim  the  rights  the 
Assembly  have  granted  them  ?  Will  that  Presbytery  condemn 
false  doctrine — any  opinions  which  they  themselves  hold?  This  is 
not  to  be  expected.  Indeed,  justly  interpreting  the  measures  of 
the  Assembly,  a  convict  at  the  bar  of  that  Presbytery  would  have 
a  right  to  appeal  to  the  Assembly,  as  has  already,  in  substance, 
been  done,  and  claim  the  implied  and  pledged  protection  of  the 
highest  tribunal  in  the  church,  in  holding  the  most  palpable  and 
injurious  heresy.  Ah  uno,  omnia  disce.  This  is  a  fair  specimen 
of  the  "constitutional  strictness"  the  Assembly  are  about  to  insist 
on,  with  so  much  apparent  honesty  and  zeal.  To  such  tribunals, 
which  are  now  established  by  the  highest  authority,  which  are 
multiplying  through  our  church,  and  to  which  unsound  men  will 
unquestionably  attach  themselves  for  security,  they  are  to  be  re- 
ferred as  the  only  proper  tribunals  to  test  their  character  and  ar- 
rest their  progress.  And  what  will  be  the  result  of  trial,  if  the 
farce  is  attempted  at- all,  before  such  tribunals?  Speedy  acquittal 
will  be  triumphantly  proclaimed,  and  trumpeted  throughout  the 
land,  and  the  heretic  let  loose  again,  inspired  with  increased  con- 
fidence, under  all  the  advantages  of  alleged  trial  and  vindication, 
to  pursue  his  desolating  course.  On  the  whole,  there  is  a  striking 
want  of  candour  and  integrity  in  the  whole  of  this  matter.  While 
the  ostensible  object  appears  to  be  an  honest  and  faithful  applica- 
tion of  our  judicial  system  for  the  detection  and  punishment  of 
error,  the  real  aim  of  this  resolution,  when  fairly  viewed,  espe- 
cially in  connexion  with  what  precedes  and  I'ullows,  may  be  justly 
pronounced,  the  total  prevention  of  '•  constitutional  trial." 

2.  It  is  a  serious  objection  to  the  resolution  before  us,  that  it  so 
decisively  discourages  all  kinds  of  criticism  and  censure  of  he- 
retical men.  The  reflection  it  intends  primarily  to  cast  upon  the 
memorialists,  for  referring  to  heretical  books  and  their  authors,  is 
in  this  essay,  considered  of  little  consequence.  The  writer  looks 
to  more  important  bearings  of  this  intended  prohibition.  As  we 
think  it  must  be  conceded,  there  is  in  the  Presbyterian  Church, 
under  existing  circumstances,  in  most  cases  little  or  no  prospect 
of  an  honest  trial  of  unsound  teachers,  it  is  the  last  and  only  re- 
fuge of  the  church  to  watch  them  closely;  like  the  commended 
Bereans,  to  examine  their  doctrines  and  compare  them  with  the 
true  standard,  to  see  whether  these  things  are  so,  and  wherever 
they  detect  dangerous  error,  to  sound  the  alarm  and  put  the  peo- 
ple on  their  guard.     Does  this  effort  of  the  Assembly  to  suppress. 


OLD   SCHOOL   VINDICATED!.  123 

free  remark,  comport  with  the  sacred  duty  of  the  supreme  guar- 
dian of  truth,  in  the  Presbyterian  body'?  Is  it  competent  for  it  to 
interfere  with  the  independent  and  upright  movements  of  the 
Christian  mind  in  the  pursuit  of  truth?  in  the  exercise  of  faith  and 
devotion?  Is  this  the  religious  liberty  of  the  nineteenth  century? 
Our  civil  rulers,  by  statute  unrestrictedly  amenable  to  law,  are 
also  open  to  the  severest  animadversion  of  the  humblest  citizen. 
Shall  our  spiritual  guides  entrusted  with  immortal  interests,  be 
placed,  not  only  out  of  the  reach  of  law,  but  raised  above  the 
most  just  and  necessary  inquiries  and  complaints?  Can  that  doc- 
trine be  consistent  with  the  purity  and  safety  of  the  church,  that 
ministers  whose  standing  may  be  technically  good  and  regular^ 
that  is,  against  whom  charges  of  heresy  or  schism  have  not  been 
tabled  before  a  competent  tribunal,  are  to  be  considered  pure  and 
innocent  until  "  constitutionally  tried  and  condemned,"  however 
corrupt  and  disorganizing  their  principles  and  their  conduct  may 
be,  in  the  eyes  of  the  church  and  the  world?  What !  has  it  come 
to  this,  that  the  name  of  minister  may  be  used  as  a  cloak  for 
error,  as  a  passport  through  the  church  in  disseminating  false  doc- 
trines to  any  extent,  however  aggravated  and  injurious,  provided 
its  hearer  is  so  circumstanced,  by  the  remoteness  of  the  Presby- 
tery to  which  he  belongs,  by  its  inability  to  act  or  by  its  unsound- 
ness in  the  faith,  that  he  cannot  be  brought  to  a  regular  trial  and 
condemnation?  The  advice  of  the  Apostle  is  worthy  of  regard, 
Rom.  X.,  17.  "  Now  I  beseech  you,  brethren,  mark  them  which 
cause  divisions  and  offences,  contrary  to  the  doctrines  which  you 
have  learned,  and  avoid  them."  But  according  to  the  plan  enjoined 
in  the  resolution,  orthodox  ministers,  alive  to  the  interests  of  the 
church,  must  be  silent ;  the  people  are  not  permitted  to  complain ; 
heretics  may  roam  at  large,  scattering  fire  brands,  arrows,  and 
death,  through  the  church.  This  injunction  is  followed  up  with 
the  monstrous  assumption,  that  criticising  such  men  is  "greatly 
hindering  their  usefulness  as  ministers  of  Jesus  Christ !"  and  what 
consummates  the  preposterousness  of  the  whole  resolution  is  the 
intimation  that  all  this  silence,  concealment,  and  submission,  are 
required  "  at  all  times,  out  of  sacred  regard  to  the  purity,  peace, 
and  prosperity  of  the  church  !  ! !" 

We  would  not  be  understood  to  maintain  that  the  result  here 
anticipated,  will  certainly  follow  in  every  case.  Where  unsound 
ministers  are  found  connected  with  orthodox  Presbyteries,  they 
may  of  course,  be  brought  to  regular  trial.  But  we  maintain  that 
this  will  rarely  be  the  fact.  Such  men  will  form  Presbyterial 
connexions  suited  to  their  theological  affinities.  The  system  now 
in  operation  will  tend  extensively  to  bring  every  element  in  the 
body  of  the  church,  unfriendly  to  our  faith  and  discipline,  into 
combined  and  successful  action.     We  have  perfectly  satisfactory 


124  OLD    SCHOOL   VINDICATED, 

reasons  for  believing  that  the  temptation  will  be  found  too  strong 
to  be  resisted.  Indeed,  fact  has  already  confirmed  our  apprehen- 
sion. Is  it  not  mournful  that  the  General  Assembly,  whose  pre- 
eminent duty  it  is  to  defend  the  faith,  enforce  good  order,  and 
amalgamate  the  Christian  brotherhood,  should  introduce  princi- 
ples and  pass  acts  which  invite  innovation?  We  fondly  hope  that 
pure  religion  has  still  so  deep  an  influence  on  the  great  body  of 
her  ministers,  and  so  firm  a  hold  on  the  popular  mind,  that  the 
evils  and  dangers  presented  recently,  through  many  channels, 
will  inspire  constitutional  resistance,  and  produce  quick  reform. 
A  Member  of  New  Brunswick  Presbytery. 


jVo.  VI.— December,  1834, 

'*  .let  and  Testimony." — Additional  ground — Resolutions  of  the 

Assembly  7  und  8, 

The  last  Assembly  having,  in  their  first  resolution  on  the  West- 
ern Memorial,  atteiripted  to  exculpate/ormer  General  Assemblies, 
which  favoured  the  introduction  of  heresy  into  the  church,  and, 
at  the  same  time,  prospectively,  to  defend  themselves  and  any 
future  Assemblies  which  may  pursue  the  same  unconstitutional 
policy,  in  their  fifth  resolution,  which  has  already  passed  under 
review,  they  attempt  to  screen  heretical  men  from  censure  by 
prohibiting  the  orthodox,  both  ministers  and  people,  from  freedom 
of  remark  upon  their  doctrines  and  measures.  It  has  been  shown, 
that  the  remedy  which  they,  with  apparent  fairness,  recommend, 
must,  under  the  spurious  system  they  are  studiously  patronizing,  in 
most  cases  where  discipline  is  required,  prove  abortive,  and  that 
the  whole  scheme  presented  in  the  resolution  referred  to,  when 
candidly  interpreted,  bears  decisive  marks  of  intended  imposition 
on  the  church.  The  great  object  of  the  successive  measures 
which  the  majority  are  striving  to  force  upon  the  Presbyterian 
bod}',  unquestionably  is,  to  provide  for  unsound  men  an  ea-sy  en- 
trance, and  an  unmolested  existence,  in  the  bosom  of  the  church. 

The  seventh  resolution  pursues  this  object  in  the  following 
words:  "That  a  due  regard  to  the  order  of  the  church,  and  the 
bonds  of  brotherhood,  requires,  in  the  opinion  of  this  Assembly, 
that  ministers  dismissed  in  good  standing  by  sister  Presbyteries, 
should  be  received  by  the  Presbyteries  they  are  dismissed  to  join, 
upon  the  credit  of  their  constitutional  testimonials,  unless  they 
shall  have  forfeited  their  good  standing." 

Until  the  present,  it  has  been  almost  unanimously  agreed,  that 
to  Presbyteries  belongs  inherently  the  right  to  superintend  the 
migrations  of  ministers  through  the  church,  and,  by  personal  ex- 
amination, to  test  the  theological  soundness  of  any  belonging  to 
sister  Presbyteries,  who  may  apply  for  admission.  The  above 
resolution  urges  a  new  theory  and  corresponding  practice,  that 


OLD   SCHOOL   VIXDICATEBK  125 

ministers  of  our  own  denomination  should  be  received  in  all  the 
Presbyteries  of  our  church  on  a  mere  Presbyterial  certificate. 
To  the  full'  introduction  and  ultimate  establishment  of  the  "  affin- 
ity system,"  it,  no  doubt,  appears  extremely  itnportant  to  its  abet- 
tors, that  every  obstacle,  both  in  the  constitution  and  habits  of  the 
church,  should  be  removed  with  all  practicable  speed.  With  this 
end  obviously  in  view,  the  measure  here  recommended  is  no  less 
artful  and  daring  than  some  that  have  preceded.  Under  the 
plausible  disguise  assumed,  every  man  of  penetration  and  candour 
will  detect  a  deadly  assault  upon  the  great  fundamental  barrier 
of  the  Presbyterian  Church  against  heresy.  It  is  true,  as  implied 
in  this  resolution,  that  orthodox  Presbyteries,  in  the  legitimate  ex- 
ercise of  their  rights,  are  formidable  to  heretical  men  and  their 
devices;  and  the  church  will  at  once  perceive,  since  these  Pres- 
byteries are  now  marked  out  as  victims  of  heretical  rapacity,  how 
inconceivably  important  it  is  to  preserve  and  perpetuate  them  in 
their  unimpaired  purity  and  power. 

To  this  insidious  attempt  of  the  Assembly  to  make  a  Presby- 
terial certificate  an  exclusive  cokcher  for  character  and  standing 
in  the  Presbyterian  Church,  we  hold  the  following  objections: 

1.  It  is  a  palpable  violation  of  the  constitution  of  the  church, 
which  declares,  (Form  of  Government,  chap,  x.,  sec.  8,):  "The 
Presbytery  has  power  to  ordain,  to  install,  to  remove,  and  to 
judge  ministers."  The  power,  without  limitation,  of  judging 
ministers,  is  vested  in  the  Presbyterial  body,  it  is,  indeed,  a  di- 
vine, original,  and  essential  right,  which,  except  in  case  of  appeal, 
has  never  been  alienated  or  transferred  to  any  other  body,  and 
can  never  be  either  limited  or  destroyed  but  by  the  exercise  of 
unlawful  power  and  criminal  violence.  Take  away  from  Pres- 
byteries this  primary,  fundamental  right,  and  the  divine  fabric  of 
Presbyterianism  sulfers  a  radical  change ;  its  essential  character 
and  peculiar  glory  at  once  pass  away ;  it  degenerates  into  a  mere 
human  device,  and  ours  is  no  longer  the  Presbyterian  Church, 
founded  upon  the  simple,  but  grand  and  beautiful  platform  of  the 
New  Testament,  organized  by  our  blessed  Lord. 

Gospel  ministers,  from  the  moment  they  commence  their  trials 
for  the  sacred  office,  till  they  finish  their  earthly  course,  are  sub- 
ject to  the  jurisdiction  and  disposal  of  the  Presbytery.  Their 
geographical  locations,  their  public  exhibitions,  their  deportment, 
their  migrations  through  the  church,  and  "  the  report  of  them  that 
are  without,"  1  Tim.  iii.,  7,  are  proper  subjects  of  inquiry  and  ad- 
judication in  the  Presbyterial  body,  both  in  regard  to  its  own  con- 
stituent branches  and  to  those  of  other  Presbyteries  soliciting  mem- 
bership. On  a  judicious  and  faithful^  discharge  of  this  trust,  de- 
pends, in  a  great  measure,  the  purity  of  the  church.  Corrupt 
Presbyteries,  aad  "fajse.  teachers"- may  be  prevented  fromJnfecl-^ 


126  OLD   SCHOOL   VINDICATED* 

ing  her  purer  districts  by  the  instrumentality  of  this  constitutional 
guard. 

2.  Making  the  Presbyterial  certificate  sufficient  evidence  of 
ministerial  character  and  standing,  without  farther  examination, 
will  let  in  upon  the  church  a  wide  spreading  and  desolating  flood 
of  error.  Every  one  must  see,  that  this  measure  is  just  what  the 
party  in  the  Presbyterian  Church,  opposed  to  her  faith  and  disci- 
pline, now  need  to  enable  them,  without  restriction  or  delay,  to 
pervade,  to  occupy,  and  to  infect  every  portion  of  the  church,  by 
their  unsound  and  disorganizing  men.  They  have  already  erected 
unconstitutional  Presbyteries  on  the  affinity  principle.  They  have 
learned  from  the  cases  of  Dr.  Beecher,  Mr.  Barnes,  and  others, 
that  certificates  of  dismission  from  such  bodies,  are  not  considered 
valid  by  orthodox  Presbyteries.  Hence,  they  have  only  to  con- 
stitute these  dismissions  sufficient  vouchers,  by  laying  violent 
hands  on  the  power  of  Presbyteries,  and  their  emissaries  of  every 
grade  will  at  once  have  free  course.  This  omnipotent  outfit  can 
easily  be  obtained  from  the  Third  Presbytery  of  New  York,  the 
Second  Presbytery  of  Philadelphia,  the  Presbytery  of  Cincinnati, 
or  from  some  other  affinity  Presbytery;  and,  according  to  the 
plan  now  proposed,  it  must  prove  a  passport  through  the  land,  and 
its  bearer  may  demand  instantanettus  admission,  without  exami- 
nation, in  any  and  every  Presbytery  in  the  church.  Since  the  flag 
protects  its  bearer,  Arminians,  Pelagians,  Emmonites,  Unitarians, 
and  all  the  litters  of  errorists  now  invited  to  flock  hither,  will  be 
enabled  to  march  at  pleasure  under  this  irresistible  safeguard. 

This  is  a  plain  and  honest  exposition  of  the  resolution  under 
consideration.  It  seems  really  astonishing  that  a  sufficient  num- 
ber of  men  could  be  found  in  the  General  Assembly,  willing  to 
offer  such -an  egregious  insult  to  the  understanding  and  integrity 
of  the  Presbyterian  Church !  to  her  understanding,  by  presuming- 
she  could  be  duped  into  a  tame  acquiescence !  to  her  integrity,  by 
supposing  she  would  not  have  honesty  and  firmness  enough  to  re- 
pel the  aggression!  yet  this  is  the  indubitable  fact.  Here  it  is — 
let  every  man  examine  and  decide  for  himself. 

3.  The  measure  proposed  must  exert  a  deteriorating  influence 
on  the  character  and  usefulness  of  gospel  ministers. 

1.  Publishing  to  the  world  the  fact,  that  gospel  ministers  are  no 
more  accountable  to  Presbyteries  for  theological  sentiments,  must 
tend  to  inspire  them  with  indiflTerence  to  intellectual  improvement, 
theological  purity,  and  official  standing.  We  admit,  that  minis- 
ters should  supremely  regard  higher  motives  and  weightier  sanc- 
tions, connected  with  their  holy  vocation;  but,  in  every  day  ex- 
perience, we  are  inclined  to  think,  a  sense  of  constant  amenable- 
ness  to  the  brethren,  in  the  frequent  changes  and  migrations  to 
which  ministers  may  justly  look  forward,  operates  with  very 


OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED.  127 

many  as  a  paramount  motive  to  diligence  in  acquiring  knowledge, 
in  cullivatinsr  correct  views,  and  in  much  of  the  detail  of  official 
duty.     This  motive  it  is  now  proposed  to  supersede. 

2.  The  resolution  before  us  is  calculated  to  degrade  the  minis- 
ters of  the  gospel,  by  impairing  that  noble  elevation  of  mind  and 
self-respect  which  conscious  integrity  and  purity  inspire  in  the 
honest  unsophisticated  ambassadors  of  Jesus  Christ.  The  course 
here  recommended  prompts  them  systematically  to  walk  in  a  dis- 
guise, to  sliun  the  light  lest  their  errors  should  be  reproved ;  men 
who,  above  all  others  in  the  world,  should  be  open  and  communi- 
cative, this  resolution  teaches  and  urges  to  cover  themselves  from 
the  view  of  the  church  by  a  veil  of  concealment;  no  longer  tore- 
pose  for  a  standing  in  the  church  and  a  passage  through  it,  upon 
tested  and  proved  sincerity,  truth,  and  honour,  but  to  rely  upon  a 
mere  scrap  of  paper,  a  pitiable  Pass,  signed  by  a  moderator  and 
clerk,  it  may  be,  of  some  remote,  obscure,  and  unsound  Presby- 
tery !  If  tliat  can  be  obtained,  all  is  well.  Talents,  and  learning, 
and  piety,  and  orthodoxy,  and  morality,  and  discreet  zeal,  are 
stale  commodities;  it  may  be  with  such  Presbyteries,  out  of 
fashion  and  of  no  value,  but  the  Pass  is  omnipotent  in  their  view. 

3.  This  system  will  necessarily  destroy  kind  feeling  and  har- 
monious action  among  brethren  wherever  it  is  attempted  in  prac- 
tice. In  a  pure  and  peaceful  state  of  the  church,  instances  may 
rarely  occur  in  which  a  resort  to  catechetical  examination  may 
be  deemed  necessary.  But  the  power  to  examine,  and,  of  course, 
the  right  of  deciding  as  to  the  expediency  of  exercising  that  power, 
are  both  vested  in  the  Presbyterial  Assembly.  Now  we  ask, 
what  fair  motive  a  candid,  undesigning  minister,  on  removing  to 
a  diflerent  part  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  can  have  for  declining 
this  colloquial  interview  with  his  brethren?  He  stands,  in  the 
sight  of  God  and  man,  bound  by  the  most  sacred  pledge  to  con- 
form to  the  standards  of  the  church.  The  proposed  examination 
is  intended  to  ascertain  the  fact,  whether  or  not  his  doctrinal 
views  tally  with  the  Confession  of  Faith.  The  peace  of  the  church, 
the  honour,  the  usefulness,  and  comfort  of  the  candidate  supposed 
to  be  applying  for  admission,  and  the  fidelity  of  the  Presbytery, 
whose  powers  are  called  in  question,  all  demand  that  this  great 
question  of  orthodoxy  should  be  settled  before  this  new  connexion 
is  ratified.  Ought  the  candidate  to  decline  this  interview?  On 
the  contrary,  should  he  not  court  an  opportunity  to  disclose  his 
opinions,  particularly  on  points  in  regard  to  which  he  knows 
painful  suspicions  and  controversies  exist?  Does  truth  seek  eva- 
sion and  concealment?  Is  purity  afraid  of  the  touchstone? 

But  the  bearers  of  these  Presbyterial  vouchers  will  say,  "  We 
are  orthodox,  and  your  insisting  on  examination  implies  a  sus- 
picion o(  our  soundness."     True,  but  will  declining  examination 


128  OLD   SCHOOL   VINDICATED. 

remove  the  suspicion  ?  Is  refusing  investigation  the  best  mode  of 
deciding  character?  To  this  query  common  sense  and  universal 
experience  furnish  a  decisive  negative.  Therefore,  we  say,  the 
course  recommended  will  certainly  increase  suspicion,  and  destroy 
all  confidence  among  brethren.  The  happiness  and  usefulness  of 
ministers  depend  very  much  upon  their  union  in  spirit,  in  council, 
in  effort;  and  these  can  be  based  only  upon  union  in  faith,  in  af- 
fection, and  in  object.  These  unions  must  be  real,  sincere,  volun- 
tary, they  cannot  be  coerced.  Now,  it  is  evident,  that  an  attempt 
to  press  ministers  into  Preshytei'ies  against  tlieir  will,  must  pro- 
duce jars  and  animosities,  greatly  retarding  the  work  of  the  min- 
istry, and  distracting  the  body  of  Christ.  The  practical  influence 
oi  Puss  ministers  may,  therefore,  be  considered  neutralized  in  or- 
thodox districts,  except  in  propagating  heresy  and  promoting  di- 
visions. Men  wearing  the  badge,  which  betrays  a  want  of  con- 
fidence in  themselves,  cannot  expect  the  confidence  of  the  church, 
and  we  have  no  doubt  that  the  great  body  of  enlightened,  free, 
and  independent  people,  constituting  the  Presbyterian  body,  will 
despise  and  resist  this  unkind,  unfaithful,  and  impotent  effort, 
forcibly  to  impose  upon  them  and  their  children  an  order  of  men. 
who,  meanly  and  under  suspicion,  shrink  from  the  very  test  of 
faiih  and  character  which  they  have  solemnly  sworn  to  observe. 

Resolution  8.  "  That,  in  the  opinion  of  this  Assembly,  to  take 
up,  and  try,  and  condemn  any  printed  publication  as  heretical  and  • 
dangerous,  is  equivalent  to  condemning  the  author  as  heretical: 
that  to  condemn  heresy  in  the  abstract,  cannot  be  understood  as 
the  purpose  of  such  trial;  that  the  results  of  such  trial  are  to  bear 
upon  and  seriously  to  affect  the  standing  of  such  author;  and  that 
the  fair  and  unquestionable  mode  of  procedure  is,  if  the  author  be 
alive  and  known  to  be  in  our  communion,  to  institute  process 
asrainst  the  author,  and  give  him  a  fair  and  constitutional   trial." 

The  majority  having,  as  appears  in  their  previous  enactments, 
attempted  to  throw  a  shield  over  men  of  their  own  caste,  and  tr> 
provide  for  them  an  open  and  safe  way  through  the  church,  iti 
this  resolution  are  exerting  their  skill  to  erect  a  defence  around 
their  spurious  publications.  That  this  is  the  object  of  the  resolu- 
tion cannot  be  doubted,  and  that  it  is,  prima  facie,  a  suspicious 
transaction,  is  equally  clear.  The  commonly  received  opinion 
among  writers,  publishers,  and  readers  is,,  that  all  books  and 
pamphlets  issued  from  the  press  are  public  property,  additions  to 
the  existing  mass  of  knowledge;  that  they  are  intended  for  the 
moral  and  literary  use  of  the  public ;  that,  of  course  their  matter 
end  manner  are  proper  subjects  of  criticism  and  approbation  or 
censure;  that  no  man  is  precluded  from  the  privilege  of  examining 
publications,  or  forming  and  expressing  an  opinion  of  them,,  fa- 
vourable or  unfeiVOUirable';  that  publications  purporting  to  discuss. 


OLD   SCHOOL    VLVDICATED.  129 

deeply  interesting  topics,  in  theoretical  and  practical  religion,  are 
{)re-enji|ently  engrossing  and  impressive  to  the  public  mind;  and, 
that  al^^en  who  regard  truth  and  morality,  as  individuals  and  as 
collective  communities,  have  not  only  a  right,  but  are  peculiarly 
obligated  to  influence  the  issues  of  the  press,  by  freedom  of  dis- 
cussion, conducted  on  independence  of  opinion.  These  truths  we 
hold  to  be  incontrovertibe  in  a  free  government,  exclusive  of  all 
considerations  of  friend  or  foe,  time  or  place,  sect  or  denomina- 
tion. What  there  is  in  the  nature  or  circumstances  of  the  hereti- 
cal books  referred  to  in  this  resolution,  entitling  them  to  exemption 
from  the  liabilities  incident  to  all  literary  publications  in  this  land 
of  freedom,  we  are  wholly  unable  to  conceive.  If  they  bear  any 
relation  to  the  Presbyterian  Church,  so  as  to  create  in  her  a  re- 
sponsibility for  their  character,  the  more  obvious  and  cogent  are 
the  motives  impelling  the  church,  and  all  her  members  and  ju- 
dicatories, to  recognize  them  and  deal  with  them  according  to 
iheir  merits;  if  they  do  not  sustain  this  relation,  then,  on  the 
principles  of  common  justice,  they  are  to  be  regarded  with  other 
literary  productions,  as  fit  subjects  of  commendation  or  rebuke. 
The  mere  circumstance,  that  the  umpire  appealed  to  is  within  the 
church,  whatever  may  be  the  fact  in  regard  to  others,  affords  to 
those  professing  allegiance  to  that  church  no  just  ground  of  com- 
I>laint.  The  opinion,  that  because  the  authors  of  these  books  be- 
long to  the  Presbyterian  body,  therefore  the  books  themselves  are 
of  right  exempt  from  censure  within  the  pale  of  this  church,  ap- 
[•ears  to  us  totally  unsound ;  a  mere  fetch  to  screen  heresy  in  the 
abstract  from  merited  condemnation. 

On  the  supposition  that  this  ecclesiastical  connexion,  which  is 
very  remote,  if  it  exist  at  all,  is  to  protect  unsound  books  in  the 
manner  announced  by  tlie  majority,  it  was  certainly  incumbent 
upon  them  to  suggest  some  other  mode  of  arresting  the  mis- 
chievous influence  exerted  by  heretical  publications.  The  remed\' 
they  propose  is  contained  in  the  concluding  proposition  of  this 
resolution:  "The  fair  and  unquestionable  mode  of  procedure  is, 
if  the  author  be  alive  and  known  to  be  in  our  communion,  to  in- 
siitute  process  against  the  author,  and  give  him  a  fair  and  consti- 
tutional trial.-"  To  the  adoption  of  this  course,  we  must  beg  leave 
to  oppose  the  following  considerations: 

1.  It  is  opposed  to  the  constitution  of  our  church. 

"  The  Presbytery  has  power  to  condemn  erroneous  opinions, 
which  injure  the  purity  or  peace  of  the  church."  Form  of  Go- 
vernment, chap,  x.,  sec.  8.  "  To  the  General  Assembly  also  be- 
longs the  power  of  reproving,  warning,  or  bearing  testimony 
against  error  in  doctririe."     Chap,  xii.,  sec.  b. 

What  is  it,  in  the  common  acceptation  of  terms,  "to  take  up, 
and  try,  and  condemn  any  printed  publication  as  heretical  and 
1 


130  OLD   SCHOOL    VINDICATED. 

dangerous,"  or,  "  to  condemn  heresy  in  the  abstract,"  but  to  bear 
testimony  against  it — the  specific  and  momentous  service  our 
form  of  church  government  so  repeatedly  enjoins  ?  Widff  those 
who  sincerely  and  correctly  regard  the  constitution  of  our  church, 
the  course  proposed  in  this  resolution  will  be  considered  both  in- 
subordinate and  nugatory. 

2.  The  example  of  the  General  Assembly  may  be  urged  in  op- 
position to  this  new  process  against  spurious  books. 

Here  we  refer  to  General  Assemblies  which  had  character  and 
weight,  defying  all  suspicion  of  sympathy,  except  for  the  truth ; 
Assemblies  which,  in  all  their  measures,  exemplified  both  the 
spirit  and  the  letter  of  the  constitution,  and  spoke  the  words  of 
truth  and  consistency.  We  assert,  without  fear  of  contradiction, 
that  it  has  been  the  practice  of  the  judicatories  of  the  church,  un- 
til an  insidious  predilection  for  heresy  crept  in,  to  condemn  errors 
in  the  abstract,  and  to  bear  testimony  against  unsound  publica- 
tions of  Presbyterian  ministers.  Many  instances  might  be  ad- 
duced from  the  annals  of  the  church :  the  proceedings  of  the  As- 
sembly, A.  D.  1810,  in  the  case  of  W.  C.  Davis,  whose  book  was 
"  taken  up,  and  tried  and  condemned,"  is  in  the  knowledge  of 
many  now  living.  The  transactions  of  pure  and  impartial  Gene- 
ral Assemblies,  here  referred  to,  furnish  an  authoritative /J7*ecc- 
dent,  which  unadulterated  Presbyteries  will  continue  to  respect 
and  observe.  "  We  cannot  sanction,"  and  we  are  fully  persuaded 
that  the  church  in  general  will  not  sanction  "  the  censure  con- 
tained in  this  resolution  against  proceedings  and  measures  of  for- 
mer General  Assemblies." 

3.  The  "  fair  and  unquestionable  mode"  of  testing  a  printed 
book,  "  is  to  give  it  a  fair  and  constitutional  trial,"  on  its  own  me- 
rits, having  no  regard  to  its  author,  its  sectarian  relation,  or  any 
explanation,  gloss,  or  comment,  except  so  far  as  is  requisite  to 
bring  it  to  the  proper  standard. 

Every  volume  is  supposed  to  contain  the  opinions  of  its  author 
on  the  subject  it  treats.  The  reader  has  a  right  to  infer,  that  its 
sentiments  have  been  carefully  considered,  judiciously  arranged, 
accurately  expressed,  so  as  to  convey  the  writer's  mind  clearly 
to  the  reader.  Every  book  is  intended  to  improve  the  public 
mind.  With  a  view  to  this,  it  aims  to  inform  and  impress  it,  it 
invites  public  examination,  it  labours  to  guide  and  elicit  public 
opinion.  In  no  other  way  could  any  publication  accomplish  a 
useful  purpose.  Taking  up  a  book,  therefore,  and  trying  it  on  its 
own  merits,  by  the  criterion  it  professes  to  regard,  is  most  mani- 
festly falling  in  with  the  very  design  of  all  intelligent  authors.  If 
the  result  of  such  trial  be  favorable  to  the  character  of  the  work, 
the  author  will  not,  probably,  cavil  at  the  process.  If  otherwise, 
the  result  may,  indeed,  bear  upon  and  seriously  affect,  not  only 


OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED.  131 

the  standing  of  the  work,  but  the  character  of  the  author;  the 
fauh,  however,  is  his  own,  and  he  nnust  receive  the  sentence 
which  justice  awards  to  his  incompetence,  his  indiscretion,  or  his 
unsoundness. 

It  places  both  the  book  and  its  author  in  a  very  undesirable 
light,  to  say  that  the  former  cannot  be  understood  without  having 
recourse  to  the  latter.  This  would  involve  the  absurd  consequence, 
that  all  decision  is  to  be  suspended  respecting  a  work  intended 
for  general  instruction,  except  so  far  as  the  author's  powers  of 
ubiquity  might  enable  him  to  be  present  with  his  book,  to  enlighten 
its  obscurity  and  adapt  it  to  human  comprehension,  by  oral  illus- 
tration. 

Besides,  to  minds  operating  according  to  the  common  laws  of 
reason,  one  would  suppose  it  to  be  very  apparent,  that  a  much 
more  definite  and  just  estimate  could  be  formed  of  any  man's 
opinions  upon  a  given  subject,  from  a  treatise  wrilten  deliberately 
in  specific  phrase,  than  from  oral  discussion  or  extempore  ha- 
rangue, which  is  always  attended  with  excitement,  frequently 
with  ambiguities,  and  very  often,  under  circumstances  here  sup- 
posed, with  deceptive  popular  arts.  We  believe,  therefore,  that 
the  claims  of  truth  and  justice  will  be  better  maintained  by  testing 
the  book,  than  by  trying  its  author. 

4.  The  course  of  procedure  here  recommended,  i.  e.  commenc- 
ing process  against  the  author,  as  an  immediate  and  general  re- 
-sort,  appears  to  us  incompatible  with  fidelity  to  the  church  and 
the  interests  of  truth.  Cases  may  occur,  in  which  this  form  of 
process  might  prove  convenient  and  efficient,  the  book  and  its 
author  existing  near  together  and  being  equally  amenable  to  judi- 
cial investiijation.  But  in  general  this  mode  will  be  liable  to  se- 
rious  embarrassments,  injurious  to  the  cause  ot  truth.  It  is  an 
easy  work,  quickly  performed  any  where,  to  take  up  and  examine 
a  work,  and  pronounce  an  opinion  of  its  merits.  But  the  trouble 
and  difficulty  which  attend  instituting  and  conducting  the  trial  of 
a  gospel  minister  are  in  general  so  great,  the  responsibility  so  im- 
pressive, and  the  odium  often  artfully  connected  with  prominence 
in  this  agency,  so  repulsive,  that  frequently  a  prosecutor  cannot 
be  found.  Should  this  occur  in  the  case  of  a  heretical  author,  it 
is  obvious,  his  spurious  and  corrupting  publication  would  escape 
deserved  condemnation. 

If  however,  this  difficulty,  through  the  zealous  devotedness  of 
some  friend  of  truth  and  purity,  should  be  remedied,  and  the  in- 
cipient steps  of  process  be  taken,  from  the  probable  remonstrances 
of  the  tribunal  appealed  to,  and,  it  may  be,  the  absence  of  the  de- 
fendant from  the  place  of  trial,  and  many  other  impediments  often 
occurring  in  such  transactions,  it  is  obvious  there  must  be  much 
deky,  which  will  afford  the  heretical  production  an  opportunity 


132  OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED. 

wninterruptedly  to  pursue  its  work  of  infection  and  moral  death. 
Besides,  an  artful  man,  with  influential  friends,  warm  affinity  ad- 
vocates, by  various  subterfuges,  cavils  and  appeals,  may  induce 
such  procrastination  as  in  a  great  measure  to  defeat  the  end  of 
trial.*  Should  the  investigation  result  in  the  conviction  of  the 
author,  his  book  must  still,  by  proper  process,  be  involved  in  the 
general  condemnation,  or  its  malign  influence  would  still  be  felt 
with  undiminished  force.  Now  from  these  remarks,  can  any  im- 
partial man  fail  to  perceive,  that  the  form  of  process  urged  in  the 
resolution,  lends  necessarily  to  impede  the  course  of  justice,  to 
give  heretics  dangerous  advantages  in  the  church,  and  to  screen 
unsound  and  injurious  publications  from  merited  censure?  When 
a  house  is  discovered  to  be  on  fire,  our  first  object  is  to  extinguish 
the  flames,  and  preserve  surrounding  property  from  the  destruc- 
tive element.  Afterwards,  if  judged  expedient,  the  incendiary 
may  be  pursued,  and  brought  to  justice  at  leisure.  What  would 
be  thought  of  the  man  who  should  deliberately  advise  the  multi- 
tude not  to  disturb  the  fire,  but  go  in  pursuit  of  the  individual  who 
applied  the  torch?  They  would  exclaim  with  one  voice,  he  is  in- 
sane or  an  accessory  to  the  conflagration. 

5.  From  preceding  illustrations,  it  is  obvious  that  the /aw-  trial 
here  again  so  specially  recommended,  should  the  innovations 
threatened  take  efiect,  can  rarely,  if  ever,  be  had,  in  spite  of  our 
excellent  forms,  and  the  utmost  vigilance  of  orthodox  men.  And 
we  are  irresistibly  brought  to  the  conclusion,  that  a  persuasion  of 
this  fact  was  a  chief  motive  with  the  dictators  in  the  majority,  in 
so  repeatedly  urging  this  procedure.  Let  not  the  church  beguiled 
by  such  imposture!  Let  intelligent  and  impartial  men  candidly 
survey  the  course  of  policy  here  proposed,  and  they  cannot  fail  to 
discover  "graves  which  appear  not,  and  the  men  that  walk  over 
them  are  not  aware  of  them,"  "  whited  sepulchres,  which  indeed 
appear  beautiful  outward,  but  are  within  full  of  dead  men's  bones, 
and  of  all  uncleanness." 

A  Member  of  New  Brunswick  Presbytery. 


No.  VII.— December,  1834. 

^^  Act  and  Testimony." — Additional  Ground — Resolution  of  the 

Assembly  11. 

^'Resolved,  That  this  Assembly  cherish  an  unabated  attachment 
to  the  system  of  doctrines  contained  in  the  standards  of  their  faith, 
and  would  guard  with  vigilance  against  any  departures  from  it ; 
and  they  enjoin  the  careful  study  of  it  upon  all  the  members  of 
the  Presbyterian  Church,  and  their  firm  support,  by  all  scriptural 
and  constitutional  methods." 

^'  This  was  strikingly  exemplified  in  the  trial  of  Mr.  Duffield. — Ed. 


OLD    SCHOOL   VIXDICATED.  133 

To  a  plain  man,  ignorant  of  the  previous  transactions  of  the 
last  General  Assembly,  and  unacquainted  with  the  imposing  spe- 
ciousness  which  generally  marks  the  incipient  stages  of  revolution, 
this  resolution  would  appear  quite  artless  and  honest.  Indeed,  it 
seems  adapted  to  make  a  favourable  impression  upon  the  inexpe- 
rienced and  unwary.  But  its  impression  upon  the  more  enlight- 
ened, thinking,  and  inquisitive,  if  we  mistake  not,  will  be  very  dif- 
ferent. Till  we  reach  this  stage,  in  the  adventurous  crusade  of 
the  majoiity  of  the  last  Assembly,  their  To  Pan  is  distinctly  visi- 
ble. Here  the  unity  of  the  drama,  at  least  in  appearance,  suffers 
interruption.  There  is  an  incoherence  which  needs  solution — a 
chasm  which  must  be  filled  by  bulk. 

The  character  of  any  religious  assembly  must  be  desperate, 
when  it  is  compelled  to  become  its  own  eulogist !  Never  before, 
we  believe,  did  any  General  Assembly  stand  in  this  predicament 
before  the  public.  "  Let  another  man  praise  thee,  and  not  thine 
own  mouth — a  stranger,  and  not  thine  own  lips."  Prov.  viii.,  2. 
If  the  majority,  whose  exclusive  work  this  is,  felt  the  need  of  vin- 
dication from  some  seen  or  apprehended  accuser,  they  ought  to 
have  found  a  more  appropriate — a  less  suspicious  advocate!  The 
old  adage  still  has  fitness  and  force,  "  Self-praise  is  na  praise !" 
Indeed,  to  common,  unsophisticated  minds,  it  implies  one  of  two 
things;  a  work  of  conscience  betraying  guilt,  or  a  work  of  arti- 
fice, aiming  at  deception.  Often,  both  these  operations  combine 
in  producing  this  result. 

But,  to  avoid  the  ditficully  and  injustice  of  determining,  on  ab- 
stract principles,  the  merits  of  a  measure  possessing  connexions 
and  bearings  unusually  multifarious,  we  shall  present  an  outline 
of  the  case,  with  its  most  material  circumstances,  that  every  ob- 
server may  judge  for  himself. 

The  resolutions  constituting  the  theme  of  some  preceding  stric- 
tures, were  pushed  through  the  Assembly  with  such  an  air  of  im- 
petuosity and  triumph,  as  indicated  clearly  that  they  were  intro- 
duced, not  for  discussion,  but  for  immediate  adoption,  as  the 
result  of  decision  in  previous  conclave.  An  irresistible  conviction, 
from  the  evidence  of  their  senses,  rushed  upon  the  minority,  that 
the  orthodox  church  was  in  the  hands  of  her  adversaries ;  that  the 
spirit  of  heresy  and  misrule  had  become  predominant.  But,  un- 
willing to  continue  under  an  impression  so  humiliating  and  painful, 
and  supposing  it  possible  that  some  of  the  above  decisions  were 
induced  by  causes  not  likely  to  operate  in  other  circumstances, 
it  was  judiciously  determined  to  test  the  Assembly  on  the  same 
subject  in  thesi.  And,  for  this  purpose,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Jennings 
proposed  the  following  resolution :  "  That  this  Assembly,  in  ac- 
cordance with  a  previous  resolution,  which  allows  this  body  to 
condemn  error  in  the  abstract,  and  in  accordance  with  our  form 


134  OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED. 

of  government,  which  gives  the  General  Assembly  the  privilege  of 
warning  and  bearing  testimony  against  error  in  doctrine — does 
hereby  bear  solemn  testimony  against  the  following  errors, 
whether  such  errors  be  held  in  or  out  of  the  Presbyterian  Church, 
viz.:  *  That  Adam  was  not  the  covenant  head  or  federal  repre- 
sentative of  his  posterity ;  that  we  have  nothing  to  do  with  the 
first  sin  of  Adam;  that  it  is  not  imputed  to  his  posterity;  that  in- 
fants have  no  moral  character;  that  all  sin  consists  in  voluntary 
acts  and  exercises;  that  man,  in  his  fallen  state,  is  possessed  of 
entire  ability  to  do  whatever  God  requires  him  to  do,  indepen- 
dently of  any  power  or  ability  imparted  to  him  by  the  gracious 
operations  of  the  Holy  Spirit;  that  regeneration  is  the  act  of  the 
sinner;  that  Christ  did  not  become  the  legal  substitute  and  surety 
for  sinners;  that  the  atonement  of  Christ  is  not  strictly  vicarious; 
tliat  the  atonement  is  made  as  much  for  the  non-elect,  as  for  the 
elect.' " 

In  this  resolution,  the  heretical  opinions  which  have  become  so 
prevalent  and  injurious  in  the  churches,  are  presented  in  a  form 
detached  from  all  personal  and  party  refeience,  divested  of  every 
circumstance,  exciting  and  offensive.  The  timid  and  moderate, 
the  boasted  lovers  of  peace  and  extreme  toleration,  who  refused 
their  assent  to  a  public  testimony,  when  these  errors  were  exhib- 
ited in  connexion  with  names,  classes,  and  localities  in  the  church, 
are  here  deprived  of  this  po[)ular  plea.  The  resolution  invites 
them  to  bear  testimony  against  heresy  in  the  church  or  out  of  the 
church.  With  a  call  tlius  favourably  presented,  enforced  by  views 
of  the  dangerous  nature  and  alarming  extent  of  these  errors, 
pressed  by  motives  drawn  from  precedent  in  the  long  list  of  for- 
mer venerated  Assemblies,  and  urged  by  cogent  arguments  and 
appeals  from  many  quarters,  it  was  supposed  that  no  man,  who 
in  the  slightest  degree  loved  the  church,  regarded  her  faith,  and 
felt  his  responsibility,  would  hesitate  to  comply.  Thus  an  oppor- 
tunity was  ofl'ered  the  General  x\ssembly  to  redeem  its  character, 
to  re-inspire  confidence  in  both  ministers  and  churches,  to  impress 
the  world  with  a  sense  of  its  purity,  fidelity,  and  zeal,  by  lifting 
up  this  standard  of  the  Lord  against  the  enemy  of  truth  and  right- 
eousness, coming  in  like  a  Jlood !  There  could  be  invented  no 
more  impartial,  seasonable,  and  conclusive  test  of  theological 
character.  But  the  introduction  of  this  resolution  produced  im- 
mediately, in  the  leaders  of  the  majority,  visible  excitement  and 
determined  resistance.  These  opinions  must  he  screened,  was  the 
declaration  of  every  eye,  of  every  movement,  of  every  accent, 
from  that  part  of  the  house  occupied  by  its  opposers.  The  most 
inveterate  hostility  to  the  solemn  and  impressive  duty  urged,  was 
manifested  in  a  manner  that  would  admit  of  no  apology.  Indeed 
recollecting  past  transactions,  and  especially  the  letter  and  spirit 


OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED.  135 

of  ihe  resolutions  immediately  preceding,  it  is  impossible  to  resist 
the  impression,  that  a  strong  heretical  bias,  a  close  affinity  for  the 
errors  then  before  the  house,  an  invincible  determination  to  shelter 
them  from  just  censure  at  all  hazards,  prompted  the  resistance 
and  arts  employed  to  defeat  the  motion. 

The  following  fact  already  before  the  public,  is  entitled  to  the 
highest  consideration,  as  constructive  evidence.  When  this  reso- 
lution was  under  consideration,  a  distinguished  member*  of  the 
majority  arose  in  his  place,  and  pointing  to  this  document  in  the 
hands  of  a  member,  addressed  the  chair  in  these  emphatic  and 
memorable  words:  "  Moderator,  I  am  ready  to  put  my  hand  to 
the  doctrines  contained  in  that  paper.  And,  if  this  be  heresy,  I 
am  free  to  confess,  so  worship  I  the  God  of  my  fathers."  Now, 
we  ask,  in  what  manner  an  orthodox  Assembly,  zealous  of  its 
purity,  of  its  honour  and  usefulness,  and  of  the  soundness  and 
safety  of  the  vast  community  to  be  influenced  by  its  example, 
would  have  received  such  a  declaration  from  one  of  its  members'? 
For  example,  the  Assembly  of  1798— 1805— of  1810?  They 
would  instantly  have  exclaimed,  in  an  unanimous  burst  of  indig- 
nation— heresy,  heresy!  What  need  of  further  evidence?  But 
mark  the  difference  in  this  instance.  This  specific  and  daring 
avowal  of  false  doctrine,  is  received  by  the  majority,  in  general, 
with  exultation.  The  leaders  exchange  a  look  of  triumph.  Many 
previous  decisions  had  proved  that  all  power  was  in  their  hands. 
Anv  motion  from  the  minority  would,  therefore,  have  been  worse 
than  useless.  The  desperate  author  of  this  heretical  assumption 
not  only  passed  with  impunity,  but  was  hailed  as  a  champion  by 
his  fellow  theologians,  who  clustered  around  to  cheer  his  tri- 
umph over  the  orthodox  minority,  over  the  Confession  of  Faith, 
and  over  the  Bible  ! 

To  throw  this  subject  out  of  the  house  was  now  the  paramount 
object.  On  motion  for  indefinite  postponement,  the  first  evasive 
expedient  attempted,  there  being  some  demur,  then  followed  the 
resolution  at  the  head  of  this  article. 

If  we  believed  the  heretical  dogma,  "That  regeneration  is  the 
act  of  the  sinner,"  and  that  the  majority  intended  this  resolution 
as  a  jjenitential  i-enovating  exercise,  very  loudly  called  for  in  their 
case,  we  might  treat  it  with  more  indulgence  ;  but  on  every  other 
principle,  we  hold  it  liable  to  very  serious  objections.  Every  one 
must  remark,  in  this  measure,  an  undeniable  evasion  of  an  im- 
portant public  duty.  The  Assembly,  as  the  supremely  efllicient. 
and  responsible  tribunal  in  such  matters,  are  solemnly  called  upon 
to  bear  testimony  against  notoriously  prevalent  and  dangerous 
errors;  they  flee  from  the  point,  and  make  proclamation  of  their 

*  Dr.  D.  Lansing,  of  New  York. 


136  OLD   SCHOOL    VINDICATED. 

own  theological  purity,  a  subject  not  at  all  in  question  before  the 
house!  But  on  the  supposition  that  the  Assembly  were  perfectly 
pure,  how  is  that  fact,  existing  in  a  negative  inoperative  form,  un- 
known except  through  its  own  proclamation,  to  correct  the  alarm- 
ing evils  presented  in  Mr.  Jennings'  resolution  i  Does  not  every 
eye  discover  evasion,  subterfuge,  and  incongruity  here  .' 

"  Humano  capiti,  cervicem  pictor  equinam 
Jungere  si  velit." 

And  is  that  Assembly  to  be  accounted  pure  and  faithful,  which 
trifles  so  egregiously  with  the  religious  interests  of  ihe  church, 
and  of  the  world  ;  like  children  in  the  juvenile  sport  called  "  Crosis 
questions  and  silly  answers !"  How  are  the  interests  of  our  holy 
religion  to  be  defended  and  fortified  against  destructive  errori^, 
but  through  the  faithful  warnings  of  the  General  Assembly  and 
subordinate  judicatories  ?  Supineness  and  evasion,  always  delete- 
rious in  the  guardians  of  public  faith  and  piety,  are  doubly  crimi- 
nal, when  corrupting  theories  are  boldly  advanced,  and  the  most 
precious  and  essential  principles  of  the  gospel  are  assailed  under 
imposing  sanctions.  We  consider  these  interests  too  grave  to  be 
disposed  of  in  this  light  and  evasive  manner. 

But,  unhappily,  there  exists  in  this  transaction,  matter  involving 
charges  much  more  serious  than  a  neglect  of  public  duty;  even 
bringing  into  question  the  morality  of  the  resolution  and  the  cor- 
rectness of  those  who  sustained  it  by  their  suffrage. 

1.  We  remark,  that  the  assertion  contained  in  the  first  clause 
of  the  resolution,  is  opposed  to  a  multitude  of  irrefragable  facts, 
the  principal  of  which  our  illustration  requires  us  to  recapitulate. 

The  majority  in  the  last  Assembly  have  passed  acts  in  theory 
and  practice  sanctioning  the  alhnity  principle,  and  that  by  the 
exercise  of  power  not  delegated  to  the  Assembly.  They  have,  in 
substance,  censured  the  Western  Church,  and  through  them  the 
whole  orthodox  body,  for  daring  to  complain  of  the  temporizing 
policy  of  previous  Assemblies,  and  of  their  unwise  and  injurious 
enactments.  They  have  refused  to  alter  the  "Plan  of  Union'' 
with  Congregational  Churches,  which  has  proved  a  fertile  inlet  to 
heresies  and  disorders,  and  is  no  longer  necessary  as  an  accom,- 
modation.  They  have  refused  to  consider  and  act  upon  the  nu- 
merous and  flagrant  heresies  in  the  church,  referred  to,  in  ex- 
tenso,  in  the  Western  Memorial.  They  have  passed  an  act  pro- 
hibiting the  orthodox,  both  ministers  and  people,  from  criticising 
and  complaining  o{  false  teachers  in  the  church,  thus  seriously 
threatening  our  religious  liberties.  They  have  organized  such  a 
system,  and  produced  such  a  state  of  things  in  the  church,  as  se- 
cures to  unsound  ministers,  if  they  choose  to  avail  themselves  of 
it,  total  exemption  from  discipline.  They  have  issued  an  injunc- 
tion requiring  all  Presbyteries  to  afford  such  men  free  course 


OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED.  137 

through  the  church,  whatever  their  reputed  standing  may  be,  on 
the  exclusive  ground  of  a  Presbyterial  certificate,  alias  an  offinidj 
pass.  They  have  pronounced  a  veto  upon  the  constitutional  prac- 
tice hitherto  prevalent,  of  condemning  heresy  in  the  abstract,  thus 
affording  positive  protection  to  all  disorganizing,  heretical  infidels, 
and  demoralizing  publications,  in  the  Presbyterian  body. 

In  the  face  of  all  these  facts,  to  which  we  invite  candid  atten- 
tion, the  majority  resolve,  "That  this  General  Assembly  cherish 
unabated  attachment  to  the  system  of  doctrines  contained  in  the 
standards  of  their  faith  !"  Now  before  the  first  proposition  in  this 
resolution  can  be  received  as  true,  we  must  believe  that  the  ma- 
jority devised  and  adopted  the  several  successive  measures  above 
recited,  skilfully  arranged  all  their  several  parts  in  an  unbroken 
train,  admirably  adapted  the  whole,  as  we  have  seen,  to  the  pur- 
pose of  letting  in,  propagating,  and  protecting  heretical  principles, 
teachers,  and  books,  all  without  design,  by  mere  chance,  without 
the  remotest  intention,  directly  or  indirectly,  to  countenance  error. 
Every  one,  with  prodigious  sageness  of  look,  will  here  exclaim, 
*'  What  a  most  adroit,  seasonable,  long-winded,  comprehensive, 
and  prolific  chance  that  was!"  Why,  we  might  add,  it  would  re- 
quire no  greater  effort  of  this  long  dormant  and  much  decried 
principle,  now  becoming  so  astonishingly  sagacious  and  active,  to 
produce  a  little  world  like  ours,  at  least  a  church,  with  galleries 
and  columns,  seats  and  hearers,  and  some  Bcman  or  Lansing, 
Owen  or  Wright,  profoundly  lecturing  on  human  perfect ilility, 
the  march  of  mind ,  Jlood  of  light,  new  divinity,  modern  improve- 
ments in  the  Bible!  And  why  not,  (for  it  has  vast  resources,)  in 
this  fortuitous  way,  pounce  on  a  theological  seminary,  with  hall 
and  chapel,  books  and  funds,  teachers  and  pupils,  all  easily  fitted 
by  a  little  metamorphose,  for  splendid  affinity  operation  1  1  say, 
before  we  can  believe  the  first  declaration  in  this  resolution,  we 
must  believe  all  this — "  Hic  labor.  Hue  opus  /" 

But  as  this  is  a  point  of  great  magnitude,  let  us  look  carefully 
into  the  terms  and  import  of  this  resolution.  It  appeals  to  a  stan- 
dard of  purity,  and  implies  a  statute  of  limitation.  The  terms 
abated  and  unabated  are  relative;  they  refer  to  that  standard  of 
faith.  The  resolution  claims  for  the  majority,  undeviating  con- 
formity to  that  standard,  both  as  abstractly  portrayed  in  the  for- 
mulary, and  as  practically  exhibited  in  the  action  of  previous 
General  Assemblies.  It  cannot  refer  to  the  Assemblies  very  re- 
cently preceding,  for  that  would  be  deceptive,  because  these  are 
considered  as  having  exhibited  an  abated  standard  of  purity. 
They  must  then,  in  point  of  time,  refer  to  periods  of  unquestioned 
soundness.  So  that  they  assume  for  themselves,  universally,  the 
highest  degree  of  theological  perfection.  To  maintain  the  asser- 
tion as  stated,  what  they  assume  for  the  Assembly  in  the  aggre- 


138  OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED. 

gate,  they  assume  for  every  individual  of  that  body,  for  it  would 
be  dishonest  to  claim  it  for  all  in  universal  terms,  with  an  under- 
standing that  there  existed  exceptions  in  individual  cases;  this 
would  be  acknowledging  the  falsity  of  the  general  assertion. 
They  must  therefore  intend  to  declare  that  the  Assembly,  collect- 
ively and  individually,  without  exception,  were  perfectly  sound, 
that  there  had  been,  and  there  was,  no  leaning  to  heresy,  that  no 
member  on  the  floor  was  chargeable  with  this  delinquency.  Now 
let  the  evidence  before  us  be  reviewed,  let  the  notorious  fact  be 
contemplated,  that  Dr.  Lansing,  a  few  moments  previous  to  the 
passing  of  this  act,  had -openly  avowed  and  assumed  the  heretical 
opinions  contained  in  Mr.  Jenning's  resolution,  and  yet  this  ma- 
jority proclaim  that  their  "  attachment  to  the  standards  of  our 
faith  is  unabated!"  and  add,  "that  they  would  guard  with  vigi- 
lance against  any  departures  from  it!"  Who  can  possibly  believe 
this?  Did  they  endeavour,  in  any  manner,  to  guard  that  heretica,l 
member  against  departing  from  the  faith?  Did  they  reprove  his 
conduct?  Is  there  any  evidence  that  they  considered  it  a  depar- 
ture at  all,  or  in  itself  an  error?  Would  any  spectator,  and  there 
were  many  scores  present,  conclude  that  the  majority  considered 
Dr.  Lansing's  creed,  in  the  slightest  degree  unacceptable?  On  the 
contrary,  would  not  the  inference  unquestionably  be,  that  they 
who  controlled  and  gave  chn racier  to  the  decisions  of  the  house, 
intended  to  coiintenatice  such  expressions  of  religious  belief  as  he 
employed,  and  to  give  them  a  decisive  sanction  ?  Are  we  not  thus 
fairly  authorized  to  consider  the  majority  as  carrying  out,  in  this 
act,  their  previous  indications  of  theological  opinion?  They  had 
been  already,  weeks,  devising  plans,  passing  acts,  cultivating  and 
exerting  party  discipline,  all  evidently  to  favour  this  very  theo- 
logical farrago,  and,  now,  when  a  member  rises  and  avows  it  as 
his  own,  in  their  presence,  and  under  implied  approbation,  they 
are  pursuing  a  steady  and  consistent  course,  to  countenance  and 
austain  error,  to  make  heresy  the  character,  and  revolution  the 
law,  of  the  church. 

This  schedule  of  false  doctrine  goes  out,  so  far  as  the  last  As- 
sembly can  give  it  currency,  as  a  part  of  our  theological  system, 
an  appendage  of  the  C(-)nfession  of  Faith.  It  was  announced  on 
the  floor  of  the  Assembly,  and  then  and  there,  without  opposition 
from  the  ruling  party,  acquiesced,  in.  If  it  may  be  proclaimed 
triumphantly,  without  rebuke,  in  the  face  of  the  highest  authority, 
it  may,  of  course,  be  the  theme  of  popular  declamation  through  all 
the  churches  in  our  land.  And  shall  this  majority,  notwithstand- 
ing all  these  undeniable  and  irresistible  facts,  which  establish  their 
unsoundness,  their  unfaithfulness,  and  their  guilt,  be  permitted,  in 
the  crowning  act  of  apostacy  from  the  faith,  and  defection  from 
duty,  by  proclamation  through  the  land,  to  assert  their  purity  and 


OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED.  130 

innocence?  What  man,  acquainted  with  the  nature  of  truth  and 
the  laws  of  evidence,  can  possibly  believe  the  assertion  which  it 
presumes  to  utter? 

2.  Our  second  charge  against  the  proclamation  is,  that  it  at- 
tempts to  make  others  believe  what  facts  disprove. 

We  consider  it  a  serious  matter  to  lead  men  to  believe  what  is 
not  true.  The  object  of  this  measure  undoubtedly  is,  to  make  the 
church  and  others  believe  that  the  majority  were,  as  a  body  and 
as  individuals,  theologically  pure;  that  (hey  were,  without  excep- 
tion, good  Presbyterians,  particularly  in  love  wiih  the  standards, 
making  good  use  of  their  power  in  the  Assembly,  and  anxious  to 
promote  the  good  of  the  Presbyterian  Church.  Their  ulterior 
object  evidently  was  to  ingratiate  themselves  with  the  public,  to 
conciliate  the  regard  of  the  church,  and  to  settle  the  mooted  point 
whether  they  were  sound  in  the  faith  and  worthy  to  be  trusted. 
Now,  as  the  testimony  against  them  was  very  formidable,  and 
augmenting  every  day,  we  cannot  but  think  that  modesty,  deli- 
cacy, and  kindred  virtues,  should  have  disposed  them  to  speak  of 
their  ovin  character  and  standing,  if  at  all,  in  very  ditferent  lan- 
guage. It  is  neither  honourable  nor  grateful,  to  assert,  and  de- 
clare, and  proclaim,  in  the  face  of  obstinate  farts  and  insurmount- 
able evidence.  Whether  the  majority  had  full  confidence  or  not, 
in  the  truth  of  their  assertion,  it  is  clear  that  very  few,  if  any,  be- 
side themselves,  believe  it;  and  we  cannot  suppress  the  suspicion, 
that  they  never  would  have  issued  this  declaration,  had  they  not 
thought  it  needed  confirmation.  If  there  had  existed  no  evidence 
implicating  them,  except  the  case  of  Dr.  Lansing,  that  is  sufficient 
to  convict  them  of  false  statement  and  of  culpable  remissness  in 
screening  a  transgressor,  token  in  the  very  act ;  his  words,  spoken 
and  assumed,  constituting  the  charges,  and  they,  in  common  with 
scores  of  others,  being  the  witnesses.  To  us,  it  appears  decidedly 
wrong,  to  utter  and  circulate,  as  true,  what  known  facts  can- 
not fail  to  render  exceedingly  questionable.  And  all  will  con- 
cur in  pronouncing  it  a  crime  of  no  ordinary  magnitude,  to  assert 
and  publish  to  the  world,  as  fact,  what  we  ourselves  know  not  to 
be  true.  Ii  will  not,  therefore,  be  considered  strange,  that  the 
minority  should  repel  with  abhorrence,  a  measure  which  called 
upon  them  to  bear  part  in  a  declaration  which  they  consider  as 
false  as  any  thing  ever  published  to  the  world. 

3.  The  mutilated  state  of  the  Assembly's  minute  in  connexion 
with  this  resolution,  is  sufficient  to  impeach  the  integrity  of  the 
whole  transaction. 

Whenever  the  records  of  a  legislative  body  cease  to  give  a  true 
history  of  its  proceedings,  it  becomes  an  object  of  suspicion,  and 
the  higher  the  pretensions  of  that  body  to  moral  purity,  generally, 
the  greater  is  the  implied  evidence  of  its  guilt.     We  are  aware, 


■^ 


140  OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED. 

that  ordinarily,  the  adoption  of  a  substitute  excludes  the  original 
motion;  and  we  are  no  advocates  for  burlhening  minutes  with  all 
the  primary  and  secondary  motions  to  which  business  often  gives 
origin  in  our  ecclesiastical  judicatories.  It  is  too  obviously  just  to 
admit  of  doubt,  that  every  substitute,  to  come  within  the  litnits  of 
propriety  and  order,  ought  to  be  a  modification  of  the  original 
motion,  and  retain,  at  least,  some  of  its  essential  features.  Admit 
the  contrary,  and  you  afford  the  designing  the  right  at  any  mo- 
ment, to  arrest  the  most  seasonable  and  important  discussion,  ex- 
erting the  most  salutary  influence  upon  public  religion  and  morals, 
to  which  he  and  his  accomplices  may  feel  an  occult  repugnance; 
to  divert  the  attention  of  the  house,  under  specious  pretexts,  to 
matters  totally  irrelevant,  even  of  an  opposite  or  hostile  nature; 
and  then  to  make  a  record  which  shall  not  exhibit  a  trace  of  the 
grand  and  interesting  question  thus  artfully  and  injuriously  evaded. 
In  this  supposed  case,  we  have  a  fair  outline  of  the  transaction  of 
the  rnnjoriiy  in  the  instatice  before  us.  Mr.  Jennings  moves  the 
Assembly  to  bear  evidence  against  certain  palpable  errors  ;  another 
member  moves  a  substitute  of  a  spirit  and  object  totally  different. 
The  latter  is  carried  and  inserted  in  the  minutes;  the  former,  the 
rejection  of  which  so  deeply  implicates  the  character  of  the  house, 
is  forcibly  ex[ninged  from  the  records,  and  the  majority  pertina- 
ciously insist  on  excluding  every  vestige  of  it.  Is  this  true  history  ? 
Is  tliere  not  here  a  serious  mutilation  of  our  ecclesiastical  record  I 
suppression  of  a  most  important  fact,  which  the  church  should 
know,  and  which  the  world  should  see?  The  minority  urged 
them  to  fill  up  their  record,  to  tell  the  whole  truth.  But  all  their 
appeals  on  the  ground  of  right,  of  expediency,  and  of  courtesy, 
were  peremptorily  refused.  We  can  discover  for  their  conceal- 
ment and  distortion,  no  justifiable  motive.  If  they  desired  thus  to 
save  themselves  from  apprehended  reproach,  and  to  procure  for 
their  exculpatory  resolution  more  kind  reception,  they  have  failed. 
For  this  dark,  lore-boding  chapter  in  their  history  has  come  to 
light  and  pronounced  its  sentence — Tekel. 

Finally,  all  will  agree  that  the  time  and  circumstance  in  which 
this  declaration  appeared  were  all  well  selected.  The  majority 
had  now  in  their  legislative  capacity,  accomplished  all  that  ap- 
peared necessai-y  and  practicable,  to  introduce  and  confirm  the 
affinity  system.  They  saw  the  Assembly  much  agitated,  the 
public  mind  much  perturbed,  repealed  protests  and  numerous  acts 
of  testimony  indicating  resistance  by  appeals  to  the  people,  the 
fountain  of  power.  Hence  they  hasten  precipitately  to  reach  the 
public  ear  and  forestal  the  public  mind  with  this  surprising  and 
disgusting  tale:  "Resolved,  That  this  Assembly  cherish  unabated 
regard  to  the  doctrines  contained  in  the  standards!"  U  the  eyes 
of  the  church  can  be  blinded,  the  fears  of  the  watchmen  on  the 


OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED.  141 

wall  of  Zion  quieted,  the  great  body  of  Christians  lulled  to  repose 
a  little  longer,  all  will  be  well.  Usurped  power,  encroaching 
heresy,  the  well  digested  and  combined  system  of  perversion  and 
corruption  which  has  been  partially  developed  in  these  successive 
illustrations,  will  make  rapid  advances,  and  speedily  defy  all  at- 
tempts at  correction  and  reform. 

It  cannot  be  concealed  from  those  disposed  to  look  and  listen 
with  candour,  that  the  Presbyterian  Church  have  almost,  if  not 
entirely,  reached  this  deplorable  crisis.  It  remains  with  the  sound 
and  faithful  in  this  great  community  to  decide  whether  the  evil 
already  felt  shall  be  redressed,  and  those  jusily  feared  find  a  re- 
medy. To  us  it  appears  infallibly  certain,  that  nothing  but  pious 
and  united,  prompt  and  energetic  action,  among  the  sin.cere  friends^ 
of  truth  and  order,  according  to  the  spirit  of  the  gospel,  and  our 
ecclesiastical  regime,  can  renovate  our  contaminated  system,  and 
restore  our  abused  and  degraded  church  to  that  purity  of  charac- 
ter, to  that  healthful  vigour  in  operation,  to  that  elevated,  benefi- 
cent, and  holy  destiny,  which  the  faith  and  prayers  of  God's  peo- 
ple, reposing  on  his  promises,  have  till  this  trying  hour  with 
confidence  anticipated. 

A  Mkmber  of  New  Brunswick  Presbytery. 

Although  the  New  School  had  as  yet  achieved  no  settled  vic- 
tory, it  could  not  be  said  that  they  had  effected  nothing,  for  they 
had  acquired  prodigious  power;  they  had  seized  the  citadel,  and 
were  preparing  for  the  pillage  ;  and  if  not  efl:ectually  checked, 
they  would  soon  have  subjugated  the  whole  Presbyterian  eccle- 
siastical domain  to  their  ravages.  Attacked,  as  the  church  was, 
in  every  vital  point,  by  inveterate  drilled  battalions,  from  hundreds 
of  ambuscades,  what  prospect  could  she  entertain  of  escape? 
Does  marble  wear  away  by  perpetual  attrition?  Do  the  everlast- 
ing hills  grow  less  from  falling  showers,  sweeping  winds,  and 
other  causes  which  incessantly  act  upon  them?  Then  from  the 
combined  force  of  all  the  agencies  employed  with  vigor  by  the 
unsleeping,  untiring  energy  of  New  School  men,  the  church  must 
be  reduced  very  soon,  if  not  already,  to  a  desperate  state. 

The  alternative  presented  to  the  minority  was  obvious  and  very 
imperative;  they  must  be  justly  exposed  to  the  charge  of  timid 
and  perfidious  default  in  duty,  or  issue  a  wide  spreading  procla- 
mation to  alarm  the  slumbering  churches. 

It  was  calculated,  by  the  minority  in  the  Assembly,  that  unless 
the  most  prompt  and  energetic  measures  were  adopted  to  call 
forth,  at  the  earliest  hour  possible,  such  united  efiort  from  the 
body  of  the  church,  to  sustain  their  action  during  the  protracted 
and  painful  struggle  against  superior  numbers,  powers,  and  arts, 
in  the  Assembly  of  1834,  there  would  rem  lin  to  the  orthodox- 
Presbyterian  body,  very  little  prospect  of  their  ever  regaining 


148  OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED. 

iheir  rightful  ascendancy,  or  successfully  pursuing  the  end  of 
iheir  organization.  Discoveries  were  made  during  this  meeting 
of  the  Assembly,  of  hostility  to  the  ancient  and  venerable  church 
and  standards;  fixed  designs  and  determinations,  with  all  practi- 
cable speed,  to  overturn  the  whole  ecclesiastical  fabric:  of  usurp- 
ing absolute  dominion  over  it ;  perverting  its  principles,  embezzling 
its  funds,  remodelling  its  institutions  and  ordinances,  and  trans- 
forming its  whole  organization  into  a  structure  of  a  different  kind. 
These  indications  produced  effects  the  most  startling  and  rousing 
to  the  true-hearted  few  found  in  the  minority.  A  weighty  re- 
sponsibility was  fell  pressing  upon  them  ;  and  before  them,  lay  a 
profound  difficulty  in  deciding  their  course.  For,  although  they 
believed  that  the  conspiracy  was  confined  to  a  few  master  spirits, 
yet  full  evidence  was  afforded,  by  the  unanimity  which  marked 
their  measures,  that  the  leaders  had  acquired  the  confidence  of 
their  adherents,  who  stood  ready  to  follow  wherever  they  pointed 
the  way. 

The  New  School  sympathies  displayed  by  the  leaders  in  this 
defection  from  the  Presbyterian  Church  and  standard,  in  the 
house  and  in  the  streets,  in  the  most  confidential  interviews  on 
matters  of  highest  moment,  destroyed  all  confidence  in  their  fidel- 
ity to  the  church.  Considering  many  of  the  excellent  laymen  in- 
volved in  this  difficulty,  sound  and  discreet  men  if  left  to  them- 
selves, but  deceived  and  misled  by  their  infatuated  dictators,  the 
condition  of  the  church  was  very  critical  and  interesting,  and  un- 
der the  most  favourable  aspect,  called  loudly  for  immediate  and 
energetic  remedial  action. 

As  evidence  of  the  existence,  and  an  illustration  of  the  nature 
of  the  conspiracy  in  progress,  let  us  look  at  the  features  of  it,  as  pro- 
gressively developed,  which  were  prominent  and  could  not  be 
hidden.  Dr.  Beecher,  the  Magnus  Apollo,  was  placed  at  Walnut 
Hills,  near  Cincinnati,  to  instruct,  arrange,  and  dispose  of  their 
agents  to  the  best  advantage.  Every  New  School  operator  in 
the  land,  and  especially  in  the  West,  was  looking  with  intense 
anxiety,  to  the  arch-leader  in  this  formidable  combination,  for  di- 
rections; watching  his  movements,  receiving  his  mandates,  exe- 
cuting his  will,  from  St.  Louis  to  Boston.  In  their  action,  there 
was,  of  course,  great  order,  concert,  and  efficiency,  considering 
how  expanded  and  comprehensive  the  plan  was  they  were  pur- 
suing, the  number  of  agents  employed,  the  variety  in  their  capaci- 
ties and  qualifications,  from  education,  sectional  interests  and 
feelings,  physical  and  moral  powers  and  sympathies.  With  some, 
the  enlargement  and  successful  management  of  the  Presbyterian 
Education  Society,  was  a  prime  motive  and  aim ;  with  others, 
the  American  Board  of  Missions,  the  Home  Missionary  Society, 
&,c.    Some  were  busily  engaged  in  selecting  young  men  for 


OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED.  143 

training  to  their  purpose,  building  up  academies,  colleges,  and 
seminaries;  collecting  funds  from  Presbyterian  congregations  to 
aid  their  Eastern  institutions  and  operations ;  superintending  the 
press,  conducting  correspondence,  attending  conventions  and  ec- 
clesiastical judicatories,  to  forward  their  schemes.  Ail  was  life 
and  activity,  and  untiring  zeal  among  them,  and  the  whole  enter- 
prize  was  marked  by  features  of  hostility  to  the  Presbyterian 
Church,  as  the  unique  object.  Any  attempt,  however  constitu- 
tional, discreet,  and  absolutely  necessary  to  correct  or  restrict 
these  flagrant  and  growing  evils,  would  be  immediately  de- 
nounced and  branded  with  the  ofiensive  charges  of  "  intolerance, 
tyranny,  oppression,  persecution,  uhraism,"  or  some  such  odious 
epithet.  But  the  hour  of  decision  appeared  to  be  unquestionably 
approaching. 

The  cool,  temporising,  and  conciliatory  course  which  some 
good  men  advocated  as  a  general  resort,  the  minority  believed 
would  have  speedily  consummated  the  threatened  catastrophe  in 
our  church,  which  her  subtle  foes  had  banded  togetlier  to  realize. 
This  Fabian  policy  was  what  they  courted  and  expected,  and 
were  secretly  resolving  to  make  available  for  their  ignoble  pur- 
pose. Moderates,  as  to  their  reliableness,  are  generally  very 
doubtful.  They  cannot  be  counted  on  as  certain  in  the  season  of 
storm  and  peril.  The  same  elements  of  organic  or  integral  for- 
mation, which  made  them  moderates  at  first,  are  siill  embodied 
in  their  constitutions,  and  ready  for  action,  if  at  all,  only  accord- 
ing to  their  own  peculiar  genius  and  temperament,  and  extremely 
difficult  to  be  enlisted  and  relied  upon  in  a  critical  cause,  where 
decisive  and  energetical  action  are  imperiously  demanded. 

In  this  emergency,  we  had  all  sorts  of  tempers  mixed  up  in  the 
small  and  anxious  group.  The  crisis  was  novel — the  interest  in- 
volved momentous — everlasting  results  seemed  to  hang  upon  the 
developments  of  every  hour.  On  surveying  the  little  company, 
we  saw  in  the  midst  of  us  some  sweet  and  amiable  Melancthons, 
with  all  his  listlessness  and  inefficiency;  there  was  also  here  and 
there  a  timid,  vacillating,  and  unreliable  Erasmus;  but  there  was 
need  of  more  than  one  Calvin,  with  his  French  penetration  and 
fire,  quick  insight,  and  indomitable  candour  and  ardour,  and  above 
all  a  Luther  of  immoveable  courage  and  constancy,  whom  nothing 
could  elude,  nothing  intimidate,  nothing  resist,  to  head  the  com- 
paratively small  and  trembling  phalanx  of  vanquished  but  deter- 
mined defenders  of  the  faith,  and  of  the  church  of  Christ.  By  a 
wise  and  merciful  Providence,  he  was  furnished  for  the  occasion, 
in  full  panoply,  and  fulfilled  the  task  demanded  with  triumphant 
power.  We  knew  that  chieftain  had  enemies,  whether  from  envy 
of  his  talents  or  achievements,  we  would  not  decide.  But  we  fully 
believed,  that  posterity  would  do  justice  in  spite  of  envy  or  of 


144  OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED. 

hate,  to  the  minds  thai  conceived,  and  to  the  pen  that  executed, 
the  immortal  Act  and  Testimony,  and  that  even  the  present  indif- 
ferent and  opposed  ecclesiastics  of  our  denomination,  if  there 
should  be  such  to  any  considerable  amount,  would  soon  see 
cause  to  change  their  minds  and  retrace  their  steps. 


CHAPTER    XI. 

Act  and  Testimony  flew  rapidly — New  School  opposed  to  it — Princeton 
Ilepertory  dissented — Explanations  of  the  views  of  its  suppt-rters — State- 
ment of  its  origin — Character  drawn  by  the  Repertory,  October,  1834. 

This  imperishable  bill  of  Presbyterian  wrongs  and  rights,  griev- 
ances and  protestations,  dangers  and  reliefs,,  was  ushered  forth 
about  the  close  of  the  Assembly.  The  document  flew  with  tele- 
gra[)hic  despatch,  and  was  received  with  enthusiastic  approbation 
by  those  who  saw  the  sufierings  of  the  church,  and  felt  the  ardent 
impulse  for  deliverance  and  reform.  That  the  New  School,  at 
whose  counsels  and  machinations  it  aimed  a  fatal  blow,  should 
sympathize  with  such  a  manifesto,  and  at  such  a  cfi^s,  it  would 
have  been  more  than  f<»Ily  to  anticipate.  It  poured  denunciations 
like  repeated  peals  of  thunder,  upon  their  plans  and  efforts  to  di- 
vide, impair,  and  overthrow  that  very  church  which  they  had 
bound  themselves,  by  the  most  sacred  vows,  to  cherish  and  pro- 
tect. Alarmed  at  this  st>dden  and  decided,  though  brief  and 
earnest,  exposure  of  their  perfidious  and  distracting  plans  and 
measures,  they  summoned  all  their  instrumentalities  through  the 
land,  to  pervert  the  Act  and  Testimony,  to  weaken  its  force  by 
creating  opposition,  to  cover  its  framers  and  advocates  with  op- 
probrium, to  magnify  every  symptom  of  popular  dissatisfaction 
they  could  discover;  with  boldness  and  effrontery  to  add  to  the 
crime  of  their  heresies,  the  guilt  of  denying  them  ;  throughout 
the  whole  church,  in  their  assemblies,  tribunals,  and  journals, 
with  indefatigable  cries,  complaints,  and  importunities,  to  rouse 
their  co-workers  to  come  forth  and  sustain  the  work,  which  they 
had,  as  they  thought,  and  there  was  too  much  reason  to  appre- 
liend,  already  hopefully  begun. 

As  the  course  pursued  by  the  minority,  under  these  trying  cir- 
cumstances, was  criticised  by  some  timid,  wavering  souls  in  and 
out  of  the  Assembly,  then  and  afterwards,  and  their  solemn  an- 
nunciation to  the  churches  unsparingly  condemned  by  the  Reper- 
tory, a  journal  of  high  standing  at  Princeton,  which  unitedvvitli 


OLD    SCHOOL   VINDICATED.  145 

the  New  School  in  inflicting  heavy  censures  upon  the  minority,  it  is 
deemed  necessary  and  expedient,,  to  present,  in  addition  to  what 
were  published  at  the  time,  some  remarks  explanatory  of  the  views 
and  motives  by  which  this  minority  were  governed  in  their  acts. 
In  the  first  place,  it  cannot  be  denied  that  the  minority  in  the 
Assembly  of  1834,  were  pressed  by  peculiar  responsibilities.  The 
General  Assembly,  by  the  constitution  of  the  church,  being  a  re- 
presentative body,  charged  with  the  interests  of  the  whole  church,, 
must  in  her  aggregate  capacity,  be  profoundly  obligated  to  super- 
intend and  guard  those  interests.  Whenever  the  Assembly,  or- 
ganized under  constitutional  rules,  transcends  her  legitimate  pow- 
ers, or  declines  to  perform  most  obvious  duties  for  the  protection; 
of  the  church,  or  takes  measures  to  create  a  policy,,  the  necessary 
operations  of  which  would  be,  if  persisted  in,  to  undermine  and 
overturn  the  whole  ecclesiastical  system — a  vast  responsibility 
must,  of  course,  devolve  upon  the  minority,  if  there  be  such,  in. 
the  house.  This  has  been  decided  to  be  the  fact,  in  all  similar 
and  co-ordinate  institutions  among  civilised,  men.  They,  the  mi- 
nority in  such  cases,  became  then  the  only  true  representatives 
and  guardians  of  the  Presbyterian  Church;,  duties  of  vast  impor- 
tance devolved  upon  them;  they  owed  a  service  of  surpassing 
magnitude,  proportioned  to  the  clearness  of  their  perceptions  and 
the  strength  of  their  convictions,  to  their  constituents ;  a  crisis 
occurred  which  they  did  not,  could  not,  anticipate — neither  could 
they  receive  any  instructions  how  to  meet  it.  It  would  not  suf- 
fice as  an  excuse  for  inaction,  to  themselves,  to  the  church,  or  to 
the  world,  to  say,  let  all  alone ;  this  majority,  through  the  consti- 
tuted channels,  and  at  the  ordinary  time,  will  give  an  account  of 
themselves  to  the  church,  which  can  taJce  effective  measures  to 
correct  abuses  or  neglects;  because  the  majority,  in  such  cases, 
according  to  all  experience,  never  will  fully  report  their  transac- 
tions, their  secret  and  deceptive  conclaves,  and  their  artful  muti- 
Igtion  of  the  subjects  and  the  rule  of  action  in  the  house,  and  the 
nncandid  spirit  which  in  many  instances  pervades  their  records, 
with  intention  to  mislead ;  they  never  gather  up  and  spread  out 
before  the  public  eye,  the  mischievous  and  pernicious  operations 
of  their  agents,  in  all  their  numbers  and  gradations,  the  circular- 
tion  of  false  doctrines  and  promotion  of  disorderly  measures  in 
the  church.  Men  who  stay  at  home  and  do  nothing,  depending 
upon  Congregationalists,  either  through  the  church,  or  in  her 
advisory  councils,  to  give  them  information  of  the  evils  they  are 
propagating  in  various  ways,  with  great  zeal  and  pei*severance, 
through  the  land,  may  take  for  granted,  that  they  are  never  to 
know  the  truth,  till  it  is  too  late  to  redeem,  the  church.  Cases  in, 
which  insidious  workers  in  society  expose  their  own  misdeeds  to. 
public  view,,  are  extremely  rare,  and  not  in  accordance  with  the 
K 


146  OLD    SCHOOL   VINDICATED. 

ruling  passions  of  human  nature.  Hence  it  was  that  the  minority 
felt  bound  to  issue  an  alarm  to  the  churches.  But,  in  addition, 
the  minority,  consisting  of  about  forty  individuals,  realized  that 
they  had  rights,  as  well  as  obligations,  personal  and  peculiar  to 
themselves.  Laying  aside  their  representative  character  and  re- 
sponsibility, it  was  competent  for  them  to  speak  out,  in  solemn 
accents,  to  their  brethren  in  the  Lord,  both  ministers  and  laymen, 
and  implore  immediate  aid  in  this  period  of  calamity  and  peril. 
They  had  individually  great  interests  at  stake.  In  their  persons,. 
and  in  their  official  capacities,  they  wielded  power,  if  faithful,  but 
invited  rebuke  and  dishonour,  if  idle  or  neglectful.  It  could  not 
be  banished  from  their  minds,  that  hundreds  of  thousands  of  sound 
and  anxious  Presbyterians,  either  then  did,  or  soon  would,  look 
imploringly  to  them,  under  God,  for  relief  in  this  tremendous 
emergency,  and  that  a  far  greater  number,  including  the  youth 
and  rising  generations,  would  be  exposed  to  fatal  infection  from 
the  corrupt  miasma,  with  which  the  church  and  the  whole  land 
were  threatened,  from  the  success  of  New  School  principles  and 
measures. 

The  minority  felt  persuaded  that  their  public  announcement  was 
sanctioned  by  parliamentary  precedent  in  all  countries;  by  fre- 
quent appeals  to  the  public  in  the  House  of  Congress;  by  similar 
resorts  in  our  legislative  assemblies  and  judicial  tribunals;  and 
that  no  harm  could  possibly  result  from  their  testimony,  unless  by 
abuse  of  its  spirit  or  perversion  of  its  terms.  That  the  crisis  for 
such  a  process  had  truly  arrived,  no  living  and  candid  man  could 
doubt,  after  fairly  estiniating  the  facts  of  the  case  now  on  record. 
The  church  had  actually  passed  over  to  the  possession  of  her 
enemy,  in  whose  hands  skillful  efforts  had  been  employed  to  erect 
munitions  of  art  and  power,  almost  defying  approach  on  every 
side.  In  this  condition  of  jeopardy  and  alarm,  paramount  mo- 
tives sprang  up  from  the  sympathies,  especially  for  the  theological 
seminary  at  Princeton.  It  must  be  saved,  and  this  is  the  most 
direct  and  effectual  method,  was  the  language  of  every  heart  and 
tongue.  Her  libraries,  her  professors,  her  edifices,  her  stones,  and 
her  dust,  were  dear  to  the  minority,  many  of  whom  had  lent  their 
feeble  aid  in  laying  the  corner  stones  and  in  carrying  up  the  walls 
of  that  noble  religious  light  house  for  God ;  in  placing  the  pro- 
fessors in  those  consecrated  chairs  for  the  edification  of  Zion. 
These  were  all,  in  the  estimation  of  the  minority,  if  not  perma- 
nently already,  in  a  fair  way  to  be  fully  at  the  disposal  of  the  in- 
vaders. They  had  already  cast  lots,  if  not  for  their  garments,  at 
least  for  their  chairs  and  their  honours. 

These  professors  were  viewed  as  the  protegees  of  the  church. 
The  minority  felt,  that  to  them,  in  all  their  delicate  relations  and 
vicissitudes,  the  Presbyterian  branch  of  the  Church  of  Christ,  now 


*DLD    SCHOOL    VlNDICATEDv  Hi 

suddenly  cast  upoa  their  care,  had  given  a  solemn  pledge  of  pro- 
tection. That  sacred  pledge  they  resolved  to  nnaintain  inviolate, 
if  possible,  to  the  last,  through  darkness  and  storm.  Their  at- 
tachment and  devotion,  founded  in  public  vows  and  testimonials, 
already  becoming  hoary  with  age,  had  been  cemented  and  con- 
firmed by  the  atfectionate  intercourse  of  many  years.  On  this 
subject  it  is  pleasant  to  say,  the  minority  claimed,  deserved  no 
monopoly ;,  the  whole  church  sympathized  in  the  happy  sensibility. 
The  minority  felt  their  insuiliciency  in  such  an  emergency,  but 
resolved,  in  solemn  consultation,  that  if  they  could  not  wholly  re- 
move the  danger,  they  would  at  least  try  to  mitigate  the  shock, 
by  faithfully  exhibiting  the  alarming  posture  of  the  church,  to  the 
whole  body  and  to  the  whole  world,  in  a  brief  and  sententious 
call  for  every  friendly  heart  and  hand  to  join  in  the  general  rescue. 
(The  preceding  remarks  exhibit  the  circumstances  and  feelings  of 
the  minority,  in  the  document  called  the  Act  and  Testimony.) 
In  that  hour  of  solemn  emotion,  the  idea  of  being  deterred  from 
discharging  this  most  imperative  duty,  by  the  fear  that  possibly 
some  individuals,  scattered  through  the  church,  in  less  favourable 
circumstances  for  knowing  the  tixith,  might  not  choose  to  act  in 
concert,  or  even  might  prefer  to  hazard  all  and  join  the  enemy, 
never  occurred  to  the  mind  of  the  minority.  If  it  had,  it  would 
either  have  prompted  to  stronger  action,  or  have  been  at  once 
pronounced  an  extreme  position,  not  likelv  to  be  assumed  by 
honest  and  intelligent  Old  School  Presbyterians. 

If  it  was  right,  as  the  minority  honestly  believed  then,  and 
more  confidently  maintain  now,  after  testing  the  appropriateness 
and  power  of  their  appeal,  to  cry  aloud  and  spare  not,  to  show  the 
people  at  large  the  transgressions  of  their  temporary  rulers,  and  to 
proclaim  the  danger  which  threatened  the  church,  let  it  be  re- 
membered, that  in  times  of  great  public  consternation  and  appre- 
hension, the  men  who  first  feel  the  impulse  and  sound  the  trumpet, 
are  not  apt  to  study  the  graces  of  diction,  or  to  strive  to  make 
their  language,  snatched  in  the  moment  of  tumult  and  agitation, 
quadrate  with  the  minute  and  wire-drawn  rules  of  grammar, 
taste,  or  fancy,  nor  can  they  spend  time,  when  a  moment  lost 
may  lose  a  crown,  to  court  an  adaptation  of  their  empassioned 
style  to  the  popular  opinions,  passions,  and  caprices,  which,  in 
the  ardent  simplicity  of  their  hearts,  they  either  realized  not  at  all, 
or  kindly  supposed  could  not  but  coincide  with  their  own.  Such 
and  similar  considerations  must  apologize  satisfactorily  to  the  very 
critical  and  censorious,  for  some  peculiarities  of  style,  thought,  and 
phrase,  found  in  the  Act  and  Testinionrj  For  the  general  charac- 
ter and  merit  of  this  document,  we  may  appeal  to  the  Biblical 
Repertory  itself,  and  quote  its  language  with  pleasure  and  with 


148  OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED.  !' 

triumph.  See  No.  for  October,  1834.*  "  The  history  of  this  docu- 
ment we  understand  to  be  as  follows:  The  proceedings  of  the 
last  General  Assembly  of  our  church  being  in  many  cases  much, 
disapproved-  t)f,  by  a  large  minority  of  that  body,  a  meeting  was- 
called  in  Philadelphia,  to  which  all  those  ministers  and  elders 
were  invited  who  sympathized  withlhis.  minority  in  their  opinions 
and  feelings.  Among  other  acts  of  this  meeting,,  a  committee 
was  appointed  to  draft  a  public  declaration  to  the  churches,  of 
the  views  and  wishes  of  those  then  present.  The  result  of  this 
appototment  was  the  publication  of  a  paper  entitled  an  Act  and 
Testimony.  It  is  impossible  for  any  man  to  read  this  document 
without  being  deeply  impressed  with  respect  for  its  authors.  It 
is  pervaded  by  a  tone  of  solemn  earnestness,  which  carries  to 
every  heart  the  conviction  of  their  sincerity,  and  of  their  sense  of 
the  importance,  as  well  as  the  truth,  of  the  sentiments  which  they 
advance.  The  fear  of  God,  reverence  for  his  truth,  and  love  for 
his  church,  seem  clearly  to  have  presided  over  the  composition  of 
this  important  document.  In  addition  to  these  intrinsic  claims  to 
the  respect  of  those  to  whom  it  is  addressed,  the  fact  that  it  has 
received  the  sanction  of  so  large  a  number  of  the  best  ministers 
of  our  church,,  demands  for  it  the  most  serious  consideration." 

If  this  testimony  from  the  pen  of  an  opposer,  be  true  as  stated, 
the  Act  and  Testimony  has  nothing  to  fear  from  men.  What  is 
there  pronounced  on  this  humble  instrument,  seems  to  be  uttered 
with  great  apparent  solemnity  and  candour.  How  what  follows 
in  a  long  and  painful  train  is  to  be  reconciled  with  this  brief  and 
solemn  eulogy,  the  present  historian  candidly  acknowledges  his 
utter  incapacity  to  tell. 

*  As  the  paper  here  referred  to  is  destined  to  la-^t  while  the  church 
exists  upon  earth,  it  is  of  sorue  importance  that  the  history  of  it,  begun  in 
the  Repertory,  should  be  enlarged  aad  completad.  The  truth  is  believed 
to  be: 

1.  A  committee  of  five  were  appointed  by  the  minority  to  draw  the  doc- 
ument.    I>r.  Wm.  Engles,  Chairman. 

2.  By  request,  Rob't  I.  Breckenridge  drew  the  paper,  and  reported  it  to 
the  comnjittee,  without  a  name  prefixe-1,  and  without  the  specifications  of 
errors  annexed. 

Dr.  Engles,  the  Chairman,  prefixed  the  name.  Act  and  Testimony. 
By  request,  we  understand.  Dr.  Ilodge  added  the  specifications  of  error 
or  false  doctrine. 

3.  Dr.  Engles  suggested  the  signing  of  the  Act  and  Testimony  through 
the  churches,  and  sending  the  signatures  weekly  to  his  office  in  Philadel- 
phia, merely  to  give  interest  and  diffusiveness  to  the  circulation  of  the  Act 
%0,d.  Testimony.     With  this  the  committee  had  ijothing  to  do. 


OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED.  14$ 


CHAPTER   XII. 


Act  and  Testimony  at  large — Article  in  opposition  in  full,  without  com* 
ment,  from  Repertory,  October,  1834 — Its  effect  in  the  vicinity,  and  on 
the  Churches — In  the  Presbytery  of  New  Brunswick — Temper  and  course 
of  the  New  School — ConventioQ  to  meet  in  Pittsburgh,  May,  1835 — 
Church  exposed—Despondence  abroad — Efforts  to  encourage^-Extreme 
Despondence— Dr.  Alexander,  though  -prudently  silent  at  home,  dis- 
covered to  lean  to  the  Orthodox  company^-Evidenoe  of  it  stated  here, 
and  visible  in  his  action  in  the  Assembly. 

"  To  the  Ministers,  Elders,  and  Private  Members  of  the  Presby- 
terian Church  in  the  United  States : 

♦< Brethren,  beloved  is  the  Lord: — In  the  solemn  crisis  to 
which  our  church  has  arrived,  we  are  constrained  to  appeal  to 
you  in  relation  to  the  alarming  errors  which  have  hitherto  been 
connived  at,  and  now,  at  length,  have  been  countenanced  and 
sustained,  by  the  acts  of  the  supreme  judicatory  of  our  church. 
Constituting,  as  we  all  do,  a  portion  of  yourselves,  and  deeply 
concerned  as  every  portion  of  the  system  must  be  in  all  that 
affects  the  body  itseU',  we  earnestly  address  ourselves  to  you,  in 
the  full  belief  that  the  dissolution  of  our  church,  or  what  is  worse, 
its  corruption  in  all  that  once  distinguished  its  peculiar  testimony, 
can,  under  God,  be  prevented  only  by  you. 

"From  the  highest  judicatory  of  our  church  we  have,  for  seve- 
ral years  in  succession,  sought  the  redress  of  our  grievances,  and 
have  not  only  sought  it  in  vain,  but  with  an  aggravation  of  the 
evils  of  which  we  have  complained.  Whither,  then,  can  we  look 
for  relief,  but  first  to  Him  who  is  made  head  over  all  things,  to 
the  church,  which  is  his  body,  and  then  to  you,  as  constituting  a 
part  of  that  body,  and  as  instruments  in  his  hand  to  deUver  the 
church  from  the  oppression  which  she  sorely  feels? 

"  We  love  the  Presbyterian  Church,  and  look  back  vvith  sacred 
joy  to  her  instrumentality  in  promoting  every  good,  and  every 
noble  cause,  among  men;  to  her  unwavering  love  of  human 
rights;  to  her  glorious  efforts  for  the  advancement  of  human  hap- 
piness; to  her  clear  testimonies  for  the  truth  of  God,  and  her 
great  and  blessed  efforts  to  enlarge  and  establish  the  kingdom  of 
Christ  our  Lord.  We  delight  to  dwell  on  the  things  which  our 
God  has  wrought  by  our  beloved  church,  and  by  his  grace  ena- 
bling us,  we  are  resolved  that  our  children  shall  not  have  occa- 
sion to  weep  over  an  unfaithfulness  which  permitted  us  to  stand 
idly  by,  and  behold  the  ruin  of  this  glorious  structure. 

"'Brethren,'  says  the  Apostle,  '1  beseech  you  by  the  name  of 
our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  that  ye  all  speak  the  same  thing,  and  that 


150  OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED. 

there  be  no  divisions  annong  you,  but  thai  ye  be  perfectly  joined 
together,  in  the  same  mind  and  in  the  same  judgment.'  In  the 
presence  of  that  Redeemer  by  whom  Paul  adjures  us,  we  avow 
our  fixed  adherence  to  those  standards  of  doctrine  and  order,  in 
their  obvious  and  intended  sense,  which  we  have  heretofore  sub- 
scribed under  circumstances  the  most  impressive.  In  the  same 
spirit,  we  do  therefore  solemnly  acquit  ourselves  in  the  sight  of 
God,  of  all  responsibility  arising  from  the  existence  of  those  divi- 
sions and  disorders  in  our  church,  which  spring  from  a  disregard 
of  assumed  obligations,  a  departure  from  doctrines  deliberately 
professed,  and  a  subversion  of  forms  publicly  and  repeatedly  ap- 
proved. By  the  same  high  authority,  and  under  the  same  weighty 
sanctions,  we  do  avow  our  fixed  purpose  to  strive  for  the  restora- 
tion of  purity,  peace,  and  scriptural  order  to  our  church,  and  to 
endeavour  to  exclude  from  her  communion  those  who  disturb  her 
peace,  corrupt  her  testimony,  and  subvert  her  established  forms* 
And  to  the  end  that  the  doctrinal  errors  of  which  we  complain 
may  be  fully  known,  and  the  practical  evils  under  which  the  body 
suffers  be  clearly  set  forth,  and  our  purposes  in  regard  to  both  be- 
distinctly  understood,  we  adopt  this  Act  and  Testimony. 

"  As  regards  Doctrine.* 

"  1.  We  do  bear  our  solemn  testimony  against  the  right  claimed 
by  many,  of  interpreting  the  doctrines  of  our  standards  in  a  sense 
different  from  the  general  sense  of  the  church  for  years  past, 
whilst  they  still  continue  in  our  communion.  On  the  contrary, 
we  aver  that  they  who  adopt  our  standards,  are  bound  by  can- 
dour and  the  simplest  integrity,  to  hold  them  in  their  o'bvious  ac- 
cepted sense. 

"2.  We  testify  against  the  unchristian  subterfuge  to  which 
some  have  recourse,  when  they  avow  a  general  adherence  to  our 
standards  as  a  system,  while  ihey  deny  doctrines  essential  to  the 
system,  or  hold  doctrines  at  complete  variance  with  the  system. 

"3.  We  testify  against  the  reprehensible  conduct  of  those  in 
our  communion,  who  hold,  and  preach,  and  publish  Arminian  and 
Pelagian  heresies,  professing,  at  the  same  time,  to  embrace  our 
creed,  and  pretending  that  these  errors  do  consist  therewith. 

"4.  We  testify  against  the  conduct  of  those  who,  while  they 
profess  to  approve  and  adopt  our  doctrine  and  order,  do  never- 

*  To  sustain  the  accuracy  of  the  following  specifications,  we  are  happy 
in  being  able  to  quote  the  aiithority  of  Dr.  llodge,  who  kindly  consented  to 
become  the  drawer  of  this  most  important  feature  of  the  Act  and  Tesiiviomjy 
on  the  request  of  the  committee  appointed  to  prepare  the  document.  But 
in  all  the  memorials  and  testimonies  on  this  subject,  presented  to  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly  at  different  times  and  from  various  parts  of  the  church,, 
there  is  a  substantial  agreement  in  regard  to  tlie  nature,  as  well  as  extent,, 
of  the  alleged  heresies,  pervading  the  whole. 


OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED.  151 

theless,  speak  and  publish,  in  terms,  or  by  necessary  implication, 
that  which  is  derogatory  to  both,  and  which  tends  to  bring  both 
into  disrepute. 

*'  5.  We  testify  against  the  following,  as  a  part  of  the  errors 
which  are  held  and  taught  by  many  persons  in  our  church: 

"1.  Our  relation,  to  Adam.  That  we  have  no  more  to  do 
with  the  first  sin  of  Adam,  than  with  the  sins  of  any  other  parent. 

"  2.  Native  depravity.  That  there  is  no  such  thing  as  original 
sin;  that  infants  come  into  the  world  as  perfectly  free  from  cor- 
ruption as  Adam  was  when  he  was  created;  that  by  original  sin, 
nothing  more  is  meant  than  the  fact,  that  all  the  posterity  of  Adam, 
though  born  entirely  free  from  moral  defilement,  will  always  be- 
gin to  sin  when  they  begin  to  exercise  moral  agency,  and  that 
this  fact  is  somehow  connected  with  the  fall  of  Adam. 

"3.  Imputation.  That  the  doctrine  of  imputed  sin  and  imputed 
righteousness,  is  a  novelty  and  is  nonsense. 

"4.  Ability.  That  the  impenitent  sinner  is  by  nature,  and  in- 
dependently of  the  aid  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  in  full  possession  of  all 
the  powers  necessary  to  a  compliance  with  the  commands  of 
God;  and  that,  if  he  laboured  under  any  kind  of  inability,  natural 
or  moral,  which  he  could  not  remove  himself,  he  would  be  ex- 
cusable for  not  complying  with  God's  will. 

"5.  Regeneration.  That  man's  regeneration  is  his  own  act; 
that  it  consists  merely  in  the  change  of  our  governing  purpose, 
which  change  we  must  ourselves  produce. 

'^  6.  Divine  Influence.  That  God  cannot  exert  such  an  influence 
on  the  minds  of  men  as  shall  make  it  certain  that  they  will  choose 
and  act  in  a  particular  manner,  without  destroying  their  moral 
agency;  and  that,  in  a  moral  system,  God  could  not  prevent  the 
existence  of  sin,  or  the  present  amount  of  sin,  however  much  he 
might  desire  it. 

"  7.  Atonement.  That  Christ's  sufferings  were  not  truly  and 
properly  vicarious. 

"  Which  doctrines  and  statements  are  dangerous  and  heretical, 
contrary  to  the  gospel  of  God,  and  inconsistent  with  our  Confes- 
sion of  Faith.  We  are  painfully  alive,  also,  to  the  conviction, 
that  unless  a  speedy  remedy  be  applied  to  the  abuses  which  have 
called  forth  this  Act  and  Testimony,  our  theological  seminaries 
will  soon  be  converted  into  nurseries,  to  foster  the  noxious  errors 
which  are  already  so  widely  prevalent,  and  our  church  funds  will 
be  perverted  from  the  design  for  which  they  were  originally  con- 
tributed, 

"  As  regards  Discipline. 
"  The  necessary  consequence  of  the  propagation  of  these  and 
similar  errors  amongst  us,  has  been  the  agitation  and  division  of 


35S  OLD   SCHOOL    VINDICATED. 

our  churches  and  ecclesiastical  bodies ;  the  separation  of  ministers, 
elders,  and  people,  into  distinct  parties,  and  the  great  increase  of 
causes  of  alienation. 

"  Our  people  are  no  longer  as  one  body  of  Christians ;  many  of  ' 
our  church  sessions  are  agitated  by  the  tumultuous  spirit  of  party  ; 
our  Presbyteries  are  convulsed  by  collisions  growing  out  of  the 
heresies  detailed  above,  and  our  Synods  and  our  Assembly  are 
made  theatres  for  the  open  display  of  humiliating  scenes  of  human 
passion  and  weakness.  Mutual  confidence  is  weakened ;  respect 
for  the  supreme  judicatory  of  the  church  is  impaired  ;  our  hope  that 
the  dignified  and  impartial  course  of  justice  would  flow  steadily 
onward,  has  expired ;  and  a  large  portion  of  the  religious  press  is 
made  subservient  to  error.  The  ordinary  course  of  discipline, 
arrested  by  compromises  in  which  the  truth  is  always  loser,  and 
perverted  by  organized  combinations  to  personal,  selfish,  and  party 
ends,  ceases  altogether,  and  leaves  every  one  to  do  what  seems 
good  in  his  own  eyes.  The  discipline  of  the  church,  rendered 
more  needful  than  ever  before,  by  the  existence  of  numberless 
cases,  in  which  Christian  love  to  erring  brethren,  as  well  as  a 
just  regard  to  the  interests  of  Zion,  imperiously  call  for  its  prompt, 
firm,  and  temperate  exercise,  is  absolutely  prevented  by  tlie  very 
causes  which  demand  its  employment.  At  the  last  meeting  of 
the  General  Assembly,  a  respectful  memorial,  presented  in  behalf 
of  eleven  Presbyteries,  and  many  sessions  and  individual  members 
of  our  church,  was  treated  without  one  indication  of  kindness,  or 
the  manifestation  of  any  disposition  to  concede  a  single  request 
that  was  made.  It  was  sternly  frowned  upon,  and  the  memo- 
rialists were  left  to  mourn  under  their  grievances,  with  no  hope 
of  alleviation  from  those  who  ought  to  have  at  least  shown  ten- 
derness and  sympathy,  as  the  nursing  fathers  of  the  church,  even 
when  that  which  was  asked  was  refused  to  the  petitioners.  At 
the  same  time,  they  who  first  corrupted  our  doctrines,  and  then 
deprived  us  of  the  means  of  correcting  the  evils  they  have  pro- 
duced, seek  to  give  permanent  security  to  their  errors  and  to 
themselves,  by  raising  an  outcry  in  the  churches  against  all  who 
love  the  truth  well  enousrh  to  contend  for  it. 

"  Against  this  unusual,  unhappy,  and  ruinous  condition,  we  do 
bear  our  clear  and  decided  testimony,  in  the  presence  of  the  God 
of  all  living;  we  do  declare  our  firm  belief  that  it  springs  prima- 
rily from  the  fatal  heresies  countenanced  in  our  body ;  and  we  do 
avow  our  deliberate  purpose,  with  the  help  of  God,  to  give  our 
best  endeavours  to  correct  it. 

"  As  regards  Church  Order. 
"  We  believe  that  the  form  of  government  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church  in  the  United  States,  is  in  all  essential  features  in  full  ac- 


OLD   SCHOOL    VIND*ICATEJ>.  1'55 

cordance  with  the  revealed  will  of  God^  and  therefore,  whatever 
impairs  its  purity,  or  changes  its  essential  character,  is  repugnant 
to  the  will  of  our  master.  In  what  Hght,  then,  shall  we  be  con-  -^ 
sidered,  if,  professing  to  revere  this  system,  we  calmly  behold  its 
destruction,  or  connive  at  the  conduct  of  those  engaged  in  tearing 
up  its  deep  foundations?  Some  of  us  have  long  dreaded  the  spirit 
of  indifference  to  the  peculiarities  of  our  church  order,  which  we 
supposed  was  gradually  spreading  amongst  as,  and  the  develop- 
ments of  later  years  have  rendered  it  most  certain  that  as  the 
perversion  of  our  doctrinal  formularies,  and  the  engrafting  of  new 
principles  and  practices  upon  our  church  constitution,  have  gone 
hand  in  hand,  so  the  original  purity  of  the  one  cannot  be  restored 
without  a  strict  and  faithful  adherence  to  the  other.  Not  only 
then  for  its  own  sake  do  we  love  the  constitution  of  our  church, 
as  a  model  of  all  free  institutions,  bat  as  a  clear  and  noble  exhi- 
bition of  the  soundest  principles  of  civil  and  religious  liberty  ;  not 
only  do  we  venerate  its  peculiarities,  because  they  exhibit  the 
rules  by  which  God  intends  the  affairs  of  his  church  on  earth  to 
be  conducted;  but  v^-e  cling  to  its  venerable  ramparts,  because 
they  afford  a  sure  defence  for  those  precious,  though  despised 
doctrines  of  grace,  the  pure  transmission  of  which  has  been  en- 
trusted as  a  sacred  duty  to  the  church. 

"It  is,  therefore,  with  the  deepest  sorrow,  that  we  behold  our 
church  tribunals,  in  various  instances,  imbued  with  a  different 
spirit,  and  fleeing,  on  every  emergency,  to  expedients,  unknown 
to  the  Christian  simplicity  and  uprightness  of  our  forms,  and  re- 
pugnant to  all  our  previous  habits.  It  is  with  pain  and  distrust, 
that  we  see  sometimes  the  helpless  inefficiency  of  mere  advisory 
bodies  contended  for  and  practiced,  when  the  occasion  called  for 
the  free  action  of  our  laws  ;  and  sometimes  the  full  and  peremptory 
exercise  of  power  almost  despotic  practiced  in  cases  where  no' 
authority  existed  to  act  at  all.  It  is  with  increasing  alarm,  that 
we  behold  a  fixed  design  to  organize  new  tribunals,  upon  princi- 
ples repugnant  to  our  system,  and  directly  subversive  of  it,  for 
the  obvious  purpose  of  establishing  and  propagating  the  heresies 
already  recounted  ;  of  shielding  from  just  process  the  individuals 
who  hold  them,  and  of  arresting  the  wholesome  discipline  of  the 
church.  We  do  therefore  testify  against  all  these  departures 
from  the  true  principles  of  our  constitution;,  against  the  formation 
of  new  Presbyteries  and  Synods,  otherwise  than  upon  the  estab- 
lished rules  of  our  church,  or  for  other  purposes  than  the  edifica- 
tion and  enlargement  of  the  Church  of  Christ;  and  we  most  par- 
ticularly testify  against  the  formation  of  any  tribunal  in  our  church 
upon  what  some  call  principles  of  elective  affinity  ;  against  the 
exercise  by  the  General  Assembly,  of  any  power  not  clearly  dele- 


154  OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED. 

gated  to  it ;  and  the  exercise  even  of  its  delegated  powers  for  pur- 
poses inconsistent  wiih  the  design  of  its  creation. 

"  Recommendations  to  the  Churches. 

"Dear  Christian  Brethren — you  who  love  Jesus  Christ  in  sin- 
cerity and  truth,  and  adhere  to  the  plain  doctrines  of  the  cross, 
as  taught  in  the  standards  prepared  by  the  Westminster  Assembly, 
and  constantly  held  by  the  true  Presbyterian  Church ;  to  all  of 
you  who  love  your  ancient  and  pure  constitution,  and  desire  to 
restore  our  abused  and  corrupted  church  to  her  simplicity,  purity, 
and  truth,  we,  a  portion  of  yourselves,  ministers  and  elders  of 
your  churches,  and  servants  of  one  common  Lord,  would  propose 
most  respectfully  and  kindly,  and  yet  most  earnestly  : 

"  1.  That  we  refuse  to  give  countenance  to  ministers,  elders, 
agents,  editors,  teachers,  or  to  those  who  are  in  any  other  capa- 
city, engaged  in  religious  instruction  or  effort,  who  hold  the  pre- 
ceding or  similar  heresies. 

"2,  That  we  make  every  lawful  effort  to  subject  all  such  per- 
sons, especially  if  they  be  ministers,  to  the  just  exercise  of  disci- 
pline, by  the  proper  tribunal. 

"3.  That  we  use  all  proper  means  to  restore  the  discipline  of 
the  church,  in  all  its  courts,  to  a  sound,  just,  Christian  slate. 

"4.  That  we  use  our  endeav^ours  to  prev^ent  the  introduciion  of 
new  principles  into  our  system,  and  to  restore  our  tribunals  to 
their  ancient  purity. 

"5.  That  we  consider  the  Presbyterial  existence,  or  acts  of 
any  Presbytery  or  Synod  formed  upon  the  principles  of  elective 
affinity,  as  unconstitutional,  and  all  ministers  and  churches  volun- 
tarily included  in  such  bodies,  as  having  virtually  departed  from 
the  standards  of  our  church. 

"6,  We  recommend  that  all  ministers,  elders,  church  sessions. 
Presbyteries,  and  Synods,  who  approve  of  this  Act  and  Testimony, 
give  their  public  adherence  thereto,  in  such  tnanner  as  they  shall 
prefer,  and  communicate  their  names,  and,  when  a  church  court, 
a  copy  of  their  adhering  act. 

"7.  That  inasmuch  as  our  only  hope  of  improvement  and  re- 
formation in  the  affairs  of  our  church  depends  on  the  interposition 
of  Him  who  is  King  in  Zion,  that  we  will  unceasingly  and  impor- 
tunately supplicate  a  Throne  of  Grace  for  the  return  of  that  purity 
and  peace,  the  absence  of  which  we  now  sorrowfully  deplore. 

"  8.  We  do  earnestly  recommend  that  on  the  second  Thursday 
of  May,  183.5,  a  convention  be  held  in  the  city  of  Pittsburgh,  to 
he  composed  of  two  delegates,  a  minister  and  ruling  elder,  from 
each  Presbytery,  or  from  the  minority  of  any  Presbytery,  who 
may  concur  in  the  sentiments  of  this  Act  and  Testimony,  to  de- 
deliberate  and  consult  on  the  present  state  of  our  church,  and  to 


OLD   SCHOOL   VINDICATED. 


155 


adopt  such  measures  as  may  be  best  suited  to  restore  her  pros- 
trated standards. 

"  And  now,  brethren,  our  whole  heart  is  laid  open  to  you  and  to 
the  world.  If  the  majority  of  our  church  are  against  us,  they 
will,  we  suppose,  in  the  end  either  see  the  infatuation  of  their 
•course,  and  retrace  their  steps,  or  ihey  will  at  last  attempt  to  cut 
us  off.  If  the  former,  we  shall  bless  the  God  of  Jacob ;  if  the  lat- 
ter, we  are  ready,  for  the  sake  of  Christ,  and  in  support  of  the 
testimony  now  made,  not  only  to  be  cut  ofT,  but,  if  need  be,  to 
die  also.  If,  on  the  other  hand,  the  body  be  yet  in  the  main,  sound, 
as  we  would  fondly  hope,  we  have  here,  frankly,  openly,  and  can- 
didly, laid  before  our  erring  brethren,  the  course  we  are,  by  the 
grace  of  God,  irrevocably  determined  to  pursue.  It  is  our  stead- 
fast aim  to  reform  the  church,  or  to  testify  against  its  errors  and 
defections  until  testimony  will  be  no  longer  heard.  And  we-  com- 
mit the  issue  into  the  hands  of  him  who  is  over  all,  God  blessed 
for  ever.     Amen. 

Ministers. 


James  Magfaw, 

Robert  I.  Breckeatridge, 

James  Latta, 

AsHBEL  Green, 

Samuel  D.  Blythe, 

S.  H.  Crane, 

J.  W.  Scott, 

William  Latta, 

Robert  Steele, 

Alexander  A.  Campbell, 

John  Gray, 

James  vScott, 

Joshua  L.  Wilson, 

Alexander  McFarlane, 

Jacob  Coon, 

Isaac  N.  Candee, 

Robert  Love, 

James  W.  McKennon, 

Elders. 
Samuel  Boyd, 
Edward  Vanhorn, 
W.  Dunn, 
James  Algeo, 
James  Agnew, 
Henry  McKeen, 
Charles  Davis, 
W.  Wallace, 


David  R.  Preston» 
William  Wylie, 
William  M.  Engles, 
Cornelius  H.  Mustard,^ 
James  C,  Watson, 
William  L.  BreckenridgEj. 
John  H.  Symmes, 
David  McKinney, 
George  Marshall, 
Ebenezer  H.  Snowden, 
Oscar  Harris, 
William  I.  Gibson, 
William  Sickles, 
Benjamin  F.  Spilman, 
George  D.  McCuann, 
George  W.  Janvier, 
Samuel  G.  Winchester, 
George  Junkin. 

Geo.  Morris, 
H.  Campbell, 
Thos.  McKeen, 
James  Wilson, 
D.  B.  Price, 
C.  Hotchkiss, 
Chs.  Woodward, 
W.  A.  G.  Posey, 


166  OLD  «CH()OL  VlNinCATED. 

A.  D.  Hepburn^  James  Carnahait, 

Jos.  P.  Engles,  Moses  Reed, 

Js.  McFarren,  James  Steele, 

A.  Symi\gton,  George  Durfor, 

A.  Bayles,  John-  Sharp, 

Wm.  Ag\ew,  Isaac  V.  Brown, 

"Philadelphia,  May  27,  1834." 

The  following  article  extracted  from  the  Biblical  Repertory, 
October,  1834,  is  inserted  at  full  length,  without  comment,  viz., 
Art.  VI.,  p.  505. 

"  77/6  Jict  and  TesHimowrf. 
"  The  history  of  this  document  we  understand  to  be  as  follows : 
The  proceedings  of  the  last  General  Assembly  of  our  church  be- 
ing in  many  cases  much  disapproved  of  by  a  large  minority  of 
that  body,  a  meeting  was  called  in  Philadelphia,  to  which  all 
ministers  and  elders  were  invited  who  sympathized  with  this  mi- 
nority in  their  opinions  and  feelings.  Among  other  acts  of  this 
meeting,  a  committee  was  appointed  to  draft  a  public  declaration 
to  the  churches,  of  the  views  and  wishes  of  those  then  present. 
The  result  of  this  appointment  was  the  publication  of  a  paper,  en- 
titled an  Act  and  Testimony.  It  is  impossible  for  any  man  to 
read  this  document  without  being  deeply  impressed  witii  respect 
fur  its  authors.  It  is  pervaded  by  a  tone  of  solemn  earnestness, 
which  carries  to  every  heart  the  conviction  of  their  sincerity,  and 
of  their  sense  of  the  iinportance,  as  well  as  the  truth-,  of  the  senti- 
ments which  they  advance.  The  fear  of  God,  reverence  for  his 
truth,  and  love  for  his  church,  seem  clearly  to  have  presided  over 
the  composition  of  this  important  document.  In  addition  to  these 
intrinsic  claims  to  the  respect  of  those  to  whom  it  is  addressed, 
the  fact  that  it  has  received  the  sanction  of  so  large  a  number  of 
the  best  ministers  of  our  church,  demands  for  it  the  most  serious 
consideration.  It  is,  therefore,  natural,  that  those  who  feel  the 
truth  and  weight  of  a  great  portion  of  the  statements  of  this  doc- 
ument, and  yet  withhold  from  it  their  signatures,  should  feel  desi- 
rous of  letting  their  brethren  know  the  grounds  on  which  they  act. 
We  believe  that  most  of  the  sentiments  of  this  Act  and  Testimony 
meet  a  ready  and  hearty  response  from  the  great  majority  both 
■of  our  ministers  and  elders;  and  yet  we  presume  it  will  not  be 
signed  by  any  thing  like  a  moiety  of  either.  Why  is  this?  Is  it 
because  they  fear  to  assume  the  responsibility  of  such  an  act? 
This  is  very  easily  said,  but  we  believe  that  the  number  of  those 
who  are  nervous  enough  to  be  influenced  by  such  a  consideration, 
is  very  small.  There  is  often  much  more  courage  in  not  acting, 
than  in  acting ;  and  still  more  frequently  in  moderation,  than  in 
viulence.  It  is  generally  easy  and  safe,  in  cases  of  controversy, 
to  take  sides  decidedly  and  through  good  and  evil,  with  one  part 


OLD   SCHOOL   VINDICATED.  V5TI 

or  the  other.  If  you  are  sure  of  diecided  opponents^  you  are 
equally  certain  of  warm  friends..  Tb©  unfortunate  individuals 
who  belong  to  neither  side,  are  cared  for  by  neither,  and  blamed^ 
if  not  abused,  by  both.  Though  there  maybe  imbecility,  inde- 
cision, and  timidity,,  which  prevent  a  man's  knowing  what  to 
think,  or  saying  what  he  knows,  there  may  also  be  firmness  in 
standing  alone,  or  in  that  unenviable  position  when  neither. sym- 
pathy nor  approbation's  to  be  expected..  It  is  humbling  to  think 
of  good  men  as  being  so  deficient  in  the  fear  of  God,  and  so  sen- 
sitive to  the  opinions  of  their  fellow  men,  that  they  withhold  their 
approbation  of  the  avowal  of  truth  from  the  base  fear  of  man; 
we  are,  therefore,  slow  to  attribute  such  a  motive,  or  to  believe  in 
its  extensive  influence.  There  must  be  some  other  and  better 
reason  why  such  a  document  as  the  Act  and  Testimony  has  not 
received,  and  is  not  likely  to  receive,  the  safiction  of  more  than  a 
small  minority  of  our  churches.  We  pretend  not,  of  course,  to 
know  the  reasons  which  have  influenced:  the  conduct  of  so  many, 
individuals,  but  we  know  that  the  following  considerations  have 
had  a  decisive  weight  on  the  minds  of  many,  and  presume  that; 
these  and  similar  views  have  influenced  the  course  of  others. 

"  In  the  first  place,  this  document  has  been  perverted  from  its- 
true  and  legitimate  purpose  as  a  Testimony,  into  an  invidious  test 
act.  This  evil  has-  resulted  from  two  sources,  partly  from  the 
form  and  mature  of  the  act  itself,  in  some  of  its  essential  features; 
and  partly  from  the  use  that  has  been  made  of  it  in  some  of  our 
leading  religious  jpurnals.  It  wouJd  seem;  to.  be  a  very  obvious 
principle,  that  any  individual  member  of  a  body  has  a  right  to 
address  his  fellow  members  on  subjects  affecting  their  common 
interests.  If  he  thinks  that  errors  and  disorders  are  gaining 
ground  among  them,  it  is  more  than  a  right,  it  is  a  duty,  for  him 
to  say  so,  provided  he  has  any  hope  of  making  his  voice  efl^ectu- 
ally  heard.  If  such  be  the  case  with  an  individual,  it  is  equally 
obvious  that  he  may  induce  as  many  as  he  can  to  join  him  in  his 
warnings  and  counsels,  that  they  may  come  with  the  weight  due 
to  numbers  acting  in  concert.  Had  the  meeting  in  Philadelphia, 
therefore,  been  contented  to  send  forth  their  solemn  testimony 
against  error  and  disorder,  and  their  earnest  exhortation  to  in- 
creased fidelity  to  God  and  his  truth,  we  are  sure  none  could 
reasonably  object.  Their  declaration  would  have  been  received 
with  all  the  respect  due  to  its  intrinsic  excellence,  and  to  the 
source  whence  it  proceeded.  But  when  it  is  proposed  to  '  num- 
ber the  people,'  to  request  and  urge  the  signing  of  this  Testimony 
as  a  test  of  orthodoxy,  then  its  whole  nature  and  design  is  at  once 
altered.  What  was  the  exercise  of  an  undoubted  right  becomes 
an  unauthorized  assumption*  What  was  before  highly  useful,  or 
at  least  kaiimless,  become?  fraught  with  injustice,  discord,,  and  di- 


158  OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED. 

vision.  What  right  have  I  to  publish  a  declaration  on  truth  and 
order  to  the  churches,  and  call  upon  every  one  to  sign  it  on  pain 
of  being  denounced  as  a  heretic  or  revolutionist?  SSurely  many 
sound  and  good  men  may  well  take  exception  at  some  of  my 
modes  of  expression,  or  demur  at  some  of  my  recommendations, 
without  forfeiting  all  claims  to  confidence.  It  may  be  said  that 
no  one  is  required  to  sign  this  Act  and  Testimony  against  his  own 
will,  and  that  there  is  no  denunciation  of  those  who  decline.  It 
ought,  however,  to  be  considered  that  this  is  a  necessary  result  of 
the  call  on  the  part  of  the  meeting,  and  in  the  body  of  the  Act 
itself,  for  a  general  signing  of  the  document,  like  a  new  league 
and  covenant,  that  it  should  act  as  a  test.  Such  in  fact,  no 
doubt,  was  its  design.  The  authors  of  this  feature  of  the  plan,  at 
Jeast,  "designed  to  make  it  the  means  of  ascertaining  the  number 
and  strength  of  those  who  thought  with  them,  and  ot  uniting  them 
in  a  body,  capable  of  acting  with  concert.  If  such  is  the  very 
nature  and  purport  of  the  Act,  it  necessarily  follows,  that  refusing 
to  the  test,  or  to  join  the  league,  must  be  regarded  as  an  act  of 
hostility.  The  very  design  of  the  effort  is  to  make  neutrality  im- 
possible. Our  first  objection,  then,  is,  that  it  is  not  what  it  pro- 
fesses to  be,  a  Testimony,  but  a  test.  Had  it  been  signed  only  by  . 
the  chairman  and  secretary  of  the  meeting  by  which  it  was  issued, 
or  by  the  individual  members,  its  whole  nature  would  have  been 
diflerent.  As  it  is,  it  is  a  test,  and  must  operate  unfairly  and  in- 
juriously, subjecting  some  to  unjust  suspicions,  and  dividing  those 
who,  on  every  principle  of  duty,  ought  to  be  most  intimately 
united. 

"But,  leaving  this  objection  out  of  view,  and  admitting  that  it 
was  right  to  adopt  this  extra-constitutional  method  of  ascertain- 
ing and  rallying  the  friends  of  truth,  we  think  there  are  specific 
objections  against  this  docnment,  which  show  that  it  is  unfit  to 
answer  this  purpose.  We  have  already  said,  and  said  sincerely, 
that  it  is  impossible  to  read  this  Testimony  without  being  deeply 
impressed  by  the  seriousness  of  its  tone,  the  weight  and  truth  of 
the  great  part  of  its  sentiments,  and  the  decided  ability  and  skill 
with  which  it  is  drawn  up.  It  evinces  in  every  line  the  hand  of 
a  man  accustomed  to  legal  precision  and  accuracy  of  phrase. 
Yet  it  was  neccessarily  prepared  in  a  hurry,  probably  at  a  single 
sitting,  and  read  at  a  general  meeting,  in  which  the  careful 
weighing  of  every  clause  was  out  of  the  question.  Considering 
these  circumstances,  instead  of  being  surprised  that  there  are  in- 
stances of  unguarded  statement,  or  unwise  recommendations,  our 
wonder  is,  that  the  blemishes  of  both  classes  are  not  tenfold  more 
numerous.  But  is  it  not  obvious  that  a  document  that  was  to  be 
put  forth,  not  only  as  a  Testimony,  but  a  test,  which  the  friends 
of  truth  were  to  be  required  to  sign,  or  forfeit  their  character  as 


OLD   SCHOOL   VIXDICATED.  159 

such,  and  which  was  designed  to  rally  as  large  a  number  as  pos- 
sible of  those  who  were  of  the  same  heart  and  mind,  should  be 
most  carefully  and  solemnly  considered,  and  every  thing  avoided 
which  might  cause  the  well  affected  to  hesitate  or  refuse  ?  Were 
we  ever  so  much  in  favour  of  such  a  measure,  we  are  free  to 
confess,  that  there  are  statements  in  this  Act  and  Testimony,  in 
which  we  could  not  concur,  and  recommendations  of  which  we 
highly  disapprove.  Of  course,  however  anxious  we  might  be -to 
join  in  this  enterprise,  we  should  still  be  obliged  to  submit  to  have 
our  names  cast  out  as  evil. 

"It  is  not  our  purpose  to  go  over  this  document  and  criticise 
its  various  parts.  We  shall  merely  refer  to  a  few  of  the  passages, 
which  we  think  must  be  stumbling  blocks  in  the  way  of  all  but 
the  most  determined. 

"  The  very  first  paragraph  is  sufficiently  startling.  It  stands 
thus:  'Brethren  in  the  Lord: — In  the  solemn  crisis  to  which 
our  church  has  arrived,  we  are  constrained  to  appeal  to  you  in 
relation  to  the  alarminsr  errors  which  have  hitherto  been  connived 
at,  and  now  at  length  have  been  countenanced  and  sustained  by 
the  acts  of  the  supreme  judicatory  of  our  church.'  The  first 
question  suggested  by  this  paragraph  is,  whether  in  fact  such  a 
crisis  has  arrived  in  our  church,  as  to  justify  such  avowedly  re- 
volutionary measures,  as  the  present  document  recommends? 
If  such  is  the  state  of  the  church,  desperate  remedies  may  be  jus- 
tified, if  in  themselves  wise  and  well  directed.  This  point,  how- 
ever, we  must  at  present  waive.  The  statement  to  which  we 
would  now  call  the  attention  of  our  readers,  and  at  which  we 
should  hesitate  long,  and  sign  at  last,  if  sign  we  must,  with  a  slow 
and  shaking  hand,  is  the  declaration,  that  the  highest  judicatory 
of  our  church  has  at  length  countenanced  and  sustained  alarming 
errors.  These  errors,  of  course,  are  those  specified  in  the  docu- 
ment itself.  Is  it  then  true,  that  the  highest  judicatory  of  our 
church  has  *  countenanced  and  sustained'  the  doctrine,  that  we 
have  no  more  to  do  with  the  sin  of  Adam  than  with  the  sins  of 
any  other  parent — that  there  is  no  such  thing  as  original  sin — 
that  man's  regeneration  is  his  own  act — that  Christ's  sufferings 
are  not  truly  and  properly  vicarious  ?  How  serious  the  responsi- 
bility of  announcing  to  the  world  that  such  is  the  case  !  How 
clear  and  decisive  should  be  the  evidence  of  the  fact,  before  the 
annunciation  was  made  and  ratified  by  the  signatures  of  such  a 
number  of  our  best  men.  Surely  something  more  than  mere  in- 
ference from  acts  of  doubtful  import  should  be  here  required. 
We  do  not  pretend  to  be  privy  to  the  grounds  on  which  this  se- 
rious charge  is  made ;  but  we  are  sure  that  no  conscientious  man 
would  set  his  name  to  it,  without  having  evidence  to  produce  the 
painful  conviction  that  such  was  the  fact.     Such  evidence  ought 


160  OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED. 

lo  have  been  detailed.  We  do  not  know,  and  we  suppose  the 
churches  generally  do  not  know,  what  this  evidence  is.  How 
then  can  they  sign  this  document?  How  can  they  be  expected  to 
take  the  responsibility  of  one  of  the  most  serious  annunciations 
ever  made  to  the  churches?  We  do  not  believe  it  to  be  true.  We 
have  not  the  least  idea,  that  one-tenth  of  the  ministers  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church  would  deliberately  countenance  and  sustain 
the  errors  specified  above.  And  iT  not  done  deliberately  and  of  set 
purpose,  it  should  not  be  announced  as  having  been  done  at  all. 
We  may  put  upon  acts  an  interpretation  very  different  from  what 
they  were  intended  to  bear,  and  thus  be  led  to  assert  as  fact  what 
is  very  far  from  the  truth. 

"  VVe  see  that  some,  in  adopting  the  Act  and  Testimony,  appa- 
rently impressed  with  the  solemnity  of  the  step  they  were  about 
to  take  in  sanctioning,  this  introductory  paragraph,  refer,  in  justi- 
fication of  the  charge  which  it  involves,  to  the  rejecting  of  a  se- 
ries of  resolutions,  calling  upon  the  Assembly  to  denounce  these 
and  various  other  errors.  But  is  the  inference  a  necessary,  or 
even  a  fair  one,  from  declining  to  consider  these  resolutions, 
wiiich  required  the  Assembly  to  condemn  certain  errors,  whether 
'held  in  or  out  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,'  to  the  sanctioning  of 
these  errors  themselves?'  During  the  sessions  of  the  last  General 
Assembly  in  Scotland,  a  motion  was  made  and  rejected,  relative 
to  the  devising  of  some  measures  for  securing  the  better  observ- 
ance of  the  Sabbath.  Must  we  infer  from  this  rejection,  that  the 
body  in  question  countenanced  Sabbath-breaking?*  A  few  years 
ago,  when  petitions  were  circulated  in  reference  to  Sunday.mails, 
many,  especially  after  the  failure  of  the  first  attempt,  refused  to 
si;j"n  them.  Are  such  persons  to  be  regarded  as  in  favour  of  the 
desecration  of  the  Lord's  day?  The  mere  rejection,  or  rather  re- 
fusal, to  entertain  the  resolutions  referred  to,  cannot,  of  itself, 
therefore,  afford  evidence  of  the  disposition  of  the  Assembly  to 
countenance  these  errors.  We  do  not  know  the  history  of  the 
case,  but  there  may  have  been  something  in  the  circumstances 
under  which  they  were  introduced,  to  account  for  their  being  set 
aside.  We  have  heard,  indeed,  the  warmest  friends  and  advo- 
cates of  the  Act  and  Testimony  regret  exceedingly  the  manner 
in  which  they  were  brought  forward.  As  far  as  our  informant,  a 
leading  member  of  the  minority  in  the  last  Assembly,  knew,  it 
was  without  consultation,  to  any  extent,. either  as  to  their  form  or 
mode  of  being  presented..  Yet,  what  more  difficult  and  delicate 
task,  than  the  framing  of  doctrinal' propositions,  to  be  afl^rmed  or 
denied  by  the  supreme  judicatory  of  a  church  ?  If  these  resolutions 
were  hastily  prepared,  carelessly  arrangedj  or  loosely  expressed, 

*  The  rejection  arose,  we  believe,  from  the  wish  to  aiwait  the  issue  of. 
the  Parliawentaxy  proceedings  on  the  subjecti.. 


OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED.  MI 

this  aione  would'  be  reason  sufficient  to  account  for  the  Assembly's 
passing  tbem  over.  As  they  have  been  published  in  the  religious 
papers,  the  churches  may  judge  on  this- point.  For  ourselves,  we 
are  not  surprised  at  iheir  rejection.  Instead  of  wondering  that  a 
majority  of  the  Assembly  did  not  vote  for  them,  we  wonder  that 
any  considerable  number  o{'  voices  was  raised  in  their  favour,  so 
various  are  the  errors  they  embrace,  and  so  diflerent  in  degree; 
some  of  them  serious  heresies,  and  others  opinions  (at  least  as  we 
understand  the  resolutions)  which  were  held  and  tolerated  in  the 
-iSynod  of  Dort,  and  in  our  own  church  from  its  very  first  organ- 
ization. Is  it  to  be  expected  that,  at  this  time  of  the  day,  the  As- 
sembly would  solemnly  condemn  all  who  do  not  hold  the  doctrine 
of  a  limited  atonement?  We  do  not  believe  that  the  penman  of 
the  Act  and  Testiinony  himself,  whatever  his  private  opinion  on 
the  doctrine  may  be,  would  vote  for  these  resolutions.  And  it  is 
too  notorious  that  many  of  his  most  active  and  zealous  coopera-- 
tors  deny  this,  and  still  more  important  points,  to  allow  for  a^ 
moment  the  supposition  that  they  could  intelligently  have  given 
such  a  vote.  Surely  then,  the  rejection  of  propositions,  for  which 
at  no  period  of  the  history  of  the  church,  perhaps,  a  tenth  of  its 
ministers  could  have  voted,  is  no  adequate  proof  that  the  Assem- 
I'ly  '  countenanced  the  alarming  errors'  contained  in  this  Act  and 
Testimony.  We  are  not  now  attempting  to  decide  whether  the 
Assembly  did  or  did  not  countenance  these  errors,  but  we  sav, 
the  evidence  on  which  we  could  be  induced  to  subscribe  the 
solemn  declaration  that  they  did,  must  be  very  clear;  and  that  no 
such  evidence  is  exhibited  to  those  who  are  called  upon  to  join  in 
the  accusation.  As  before  said,  we  do  not  believe  that  the  errors 
quoted  above  from  this  document,  or  any  others  which  it  speci- 
lies,  (unless-  it  be  that  on  the  doctrine  of  imputation). are  held  or 
approved  by  one-tenlh  of  the  ministers  of  the  Presbyterian  Church. 
And  we  consider  it  a  very  serious  affair  to  have  the  corruption  of 
such  a  body  of  Christians  asserted  and  proclaimed  through  both 
hemispheres. 

'♦  As  a  proof  of  disregard  of  discipline,,  the  Testimony  refers  to 
the  treatment,  by  the  Assembly,  of  a  memorial  sent  up  from  seve-- 
ral  Presbyteries,  sessions,  and  individual   members.     It  may  be 
supposed  that  the  manner  in  which  this  paper  was  disposed  of,, 
furnishes  evidence  that  the  Assembly  countenanced  the  errors 
above  mentioned.     This  memorial,  however,  is  not  sufficiently 
known  to  make  this  the  ground  of  a  general  signature  of  the  Act 
and  Testimony.     We  are  very  far  from  feeling  called  upon  to 
justify  all  acts  of  the  Assembly,  or  to  apologize  for  ihem.     Our 
teelings-  always,  and  our  judgment  generally,  were  w'ilh  the  mi-- 
nority  in  that  body.     There  were  things  in  the  doings  of  the  As- 
sembly, which  we  disapprove  of  as  much  as  any  of  the  signers  of 

L 


162  OLD   SCHOOL   VmOlCATED. 

this  document.  The  manner  in  which  this  memorial  was  treated, 
is  one  ofihe  acts  which  we  think  much  to  be  regreited.  But  the 
single  point  now  is,  whether  this  tieatment  furnishes  evidence 
sufficient  to  authorize  the  authentication  of  the  charge  contained 
in  the  first  paragraph  of  the  Act  and  Testimony.  Let  any  one 
look  over  this  niemorinl,  and  ask  whether  it  was  reasonable  to 
expect  the  Assembly,  in  the  present  state  of  the  church,  to  meet 
its  demands.  It  is  a  long  document,  which  concludes  by  re- 
questing, 

"  1.  *  That  the  '  Plan  of  Union  between  Presbyterians  and  Con- 
gregationalists  in  the  new  settlements*  be  wholly  abrogated,  &c. 

"2.  That  Presbyteries  be  restrained  from  ordaining,  licensing, 
or  dismissing  men,  not  to  labour  in  their  own  bounds,  but  in  the 
bounds  of  (jiher  Presbyteries. 

"  3.  That  the  Assembly  resume  the  sole  direction  of  Missionary 
operations  vviihin  the  bounds  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  to  the 
exclusion  of  non-ecclesiastical  associations. 

"4.  That  the  Assembly  bear  solemn  testimony  against  she 
many  errors  preached  and  published  in  the  church. 

"5.  That  various  points  of  order  and  discipline  should  be  de- 
cided ;  as,  1.  Whether  one  Presbytery  must  admit  a  metnber 
coming  from  any  other  with  clean  papers.  2.  Whether  a  judica- 
tory may  not  examine  and  express  an  opinion  of  a  book,  without 
first  commencing  process  against  its  author,  when  a  member  oi 
their  own  body.  3.  Whether  in  adopting  the  Confession  of  Faitll 
as  a  system,  the  candidate  '  is  at  liberty  to  reject  as  many  partic- 
ular propositions  as  he  pleases,'  &cc. 

"6.  That  the  Assembly  disannul  the  act  of  the  Assembly  of 
1832,  dividing  the  Presbytery  of  Philadelt)hia,  and  disavow  the 
princiiile  that  Presbyteries  may  be  founded  on  'the  principles  of 
elective  affinity.'* 

"Here  is  matter  enough  to  occupy  a  deliberlitive  assembly  {"or 
months.  That  all  these  points  should  be  taken  up,  and  properly 
considered,  was  therefore  not  to  be  expected.  And  as  many  of 
these  reques's  are  in  direct  opposition  to  measures  carried  with 
the  full  concurrence  and  approbation  of  the  prominent  signers  of 
the  Ai*t  and  Testimony,  vvho  now  request  the  Assetnbly  to  undo 
what  they  themselves  have  done — it  was  as  little  to  be  expected, 
that,  if  considered,  they  could  be  granted.  Though  we  think 
that  the  number  and  weight  of  the  signatures  to  this  memorial 
were  su'  h  that  the  Assembly  ought  to  have  paid  more  attention 
to  thf'ir  pli.'a,  and  granted  many  of  their  requests,  we  are  far  from 
being  convinced  ihat  it  was  a  desire  to  countenance  or  sustain 
the  errors  specified  in  the  Act  and  Testimony,  which  led  to  the 

*  For  the  s  il<ft  of  brevity  we  have  not  quoted  these  demands  at  length,, 
but  contented  ourselves  with  giving  the  substance  of  each. 


OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED.  163 

course  pursued.  It  is  a  very  prevalent,  and  in  itself  a  reasonable 
feeling,  ihai  church-courts  should  not  legislate  in  thesi,  or  pro- 
nounce on  doctrines  in  the  abstract;  that  it  is  best  to  wait  until 
the  points  come  up  for  decision  in  the  usual  course  of  judicial 
proceedings.  This  feeling  is  so  strong  in  some  of  the  soundest 
and  best  men  of  our  church,  as  of  itself  to  induce  them  to  vote 
against  many  of  the  demands  made  in  this  memorial.  It  is  not, 
however,  possible  to  know  the  motives  which  influenced  difl^erent 
individuals  in  taking  the  course  which  the  Assembly  pursued  with 
this  document.  It  is  sufficient,  that  this  course  does  not  afibrd 
proof  of  the  charge  brought  in  the  first  paragraph  of  the  Act  and 
Testimony ;  and  this  point  we  think  as  clear  as  it  can  well  be 
made.  Were  there  no  other  reason,  therefore,  for  not  signing 
this  document,  the  character  of  that  paragraph  we  think  sufficient. 
"  There  is  another  ground  of  serious  objection  to  be  found  in 
•the  fifth  of  its  eight  recommendations  to  the  churches.  The  sign- 
ers say,  •  We  would  propose,  that  we  consider  the  Presbyteriai 
-existence  and  acts  of  any  Presbytery  or  Synod  formed  upon  the 
principles  of  elective  affinity,  as  unconstitutional,  and  all  ministers 
and  churches  voluntarily  included  in  such  bodies  as  having  vir- 
tually departed  from  the  standards  of  our  church.'  This,  it  is  to 
he  observed,  is  not  an  expression  of  the  opinioti,  that  the  existence 
and  acts  of  such  bodies  are  unconstitutional,  but  a  recommenda- 
tion that  ihey  be  so  considered,  and,  of  consequence,  so  treated. 
This  is  the  only  interpretation  which  we  are  able  to  put  upon  this 
passage.  If  this  be  its  meaning,  it  must  be  seen  at  once,  that  it 
is  a  very  serious  step.  For  the  members  of  any  community,  civil 
or  ecclesiastical,  to  meet  together,  and  recommend  to  their  fellow 
members,  to  consider  and  treat  the  acts  of  the  constituted  author- 
ities as  unconstitutional  and  void,  is  an  extreme  proceeding,  to  be 
justified  only  by  a  necessity  which  authorizes  the  resolution  of 
the  society  into  its  original  elements.  It  is  a  deliberate  renuncia- 
tion of  an  auihtnity  which  every  member  of  the  community  has 
bound  himself  to  respect.  It  is,  therefore,  the  violation  of  a  promise 
of  obedience  which  can  only  be  excused  by  proving  that  it  is  an 
extreme  case,  to  which  the  promise  was  never  intended  to  apply, 
and  is  not  in  its  nature  applicable.  In  civil  governments  this  pro- 
cedure is  inceptive  rebellion;  in  ecclesiastical  governments  it  is 
the  first  step  in  schism.  To  take  this  step,  is  either  a  virtue,  or  a 
crime,  according  to  the  presence  or  absence  of  a  justifying  cause. 
That  ii  must,  however,  be  a  very  serious  cause  which  will  justify 
the  disregard  of  obligations  voluntarily  assumed,  and  promises 
deliberately  given,  will  of  course,  be  admitted.  That  it  is  not 
ccmpefent  for  any  individual,  wiihin  the  limits  of  the  extreme 
cases  just  supposed,  to  judge  for  himself  of  the  unconstitutionality 
or  the  conslilulionality  of  the  acts  of  the  constituted  authorities  of 


164  OLD    SCHOOL    VIIVDICATED. 

the  community  to  which  he  belongs,  is  too  obvious  to  need  re- 
mark. Every  one  sees  that  there  would  be  an  end  of  all  govern- 
ment, if  every  member  of  a  community  were  allowed  to  recognize 
or  disregard  a  law  at  option,;  or.  by  a  simple  assumption  of  its 
unconstitutionality  to  escape  from  the  obHgation  to  obedience. 
We  cannot  but  regard,  therefore  the  recommendation  of  this  doc- 
ument, that  churches  and  ministers  consider  certain  acts  of  the 
Assembly  unconstitutional,  as  a  recommendation  to  them  to  re- 
nounce their  allegiance  to  the  church,  and  to  disregard  their  pro- 
mises of  obedience.  Whether  this  recommendation  be  justifiable 
or  not,  depends  of  course  on  the  exigency  of  the  case.  Those 
who  do  not  think  the  act.  complained  of,  sufficiently  heinous  and 
destructive  to  dissolve  the  bonds  of  their  allegiance,  cannot  sign 
this  Act  and  Testimony;  while  those  who  regard  it  as  a  case  of 
life  or  death,  may  feel  at  liberty  to  give  the  advice  in  question. 

•'Though  we  are  of  the  number  of  those  who  disapprove  the 
plan  of  constituting  Presbyteries  on  the  principle  complained  of,, 
and  think  that  it  was,  at  least,  never  contemplated  by  the  consti^ 
tution,  yet  we  are  unable  to  discover  so  much  evil  in  the  measure 
as  to  justify  the  dissolution  of  the  church,  or  the  disregarding  of 
the  obligation  we  are  all  under  to  obedience.  The  plan  recom- 
mended in,  this  document  necessitates  a  schism  of  the  church,  and 
perhaps  was  designed  so  to  do.  The  Assembly  have  passed  an 
act  which  these  signers  refuse  to  recognize.  Either  the  Assembly 
must  retract,  or  the  signers  must  secede.  One  or  the  other  of 
these  results  must  take  place,  unless  we  are  to  have  the  confusion 
of  two  churches,  with  two  sets  of  ministers  and  members,  not  re- 
cognizing each  other's  acts  or  ecclesiastical  standing,  all  included 
in  the  same  body.  How  can  such  a  state  of  things  exist?  TJie 
Assembly's  Second  Presbytery  of  Philadelphia,  we  will  suppose, 
ordains  a  man  to  the  ministry.  As  their  constitutional  existence 
is  denied,  the  validity  of  this  ordination,  as  a  Presbyterial  act, 
must  also  be  denied.  This  leads  to  a  denial  of  the  candidate's 
ministerial  acts,  at  least  ecclesiastically  considered.  He  is  to 
those  who  adopt  this  recommendation,  a  layman,  and  can  do 
nothing  which  a  layman  may  not  perform.  Will  they  recognize 
his  baptisms?  his  introduction  and  dismiss^ion  of  church  members? 
This  evil  may  be  bearable,  while  there  are  but  two  or  three  indi- 
viduals in  this  situation ;  but  it  must  increase  every  month  or 
year,  until  the  whole  church  is  a  chaos.  Such  seems  the  neces- 
sary result  of  acting  on  the  plan  recommended,  unless  schism  be 
at  once  resorted  to.  This  result,  indeed,  seems  to  have  been  dis- 
tinctly in  view  when  the  act  was  prepared.  The  signers  say, 
'If  the  majority  of  our  church  are  against  us,  they  will,  we  sup- 
posGj  in.the  end,  either  see  the  infatuation  of  their  course,  and  re- 
trace their,  steps,. or  they  will,  at  last,  attempt  to  cut  us  off.'  That 


OLD    SCHOOL    VIIVDICATED.  165 

is  to  sa}'-,  '  we  have  assumed  such  a  position  that  things  cannot 
remain  as  they  are;  the  Assembly  must  either  retrace  their  steps, 
or  the  church  be  divided.'  Division,  then,  is  the  end  to  which 
this  enterprise  leads,  and  at  which,  we  doubt  not,  it  aims;*'  and 
division  for  what?  As  far  as  this  document  is  concerned,  it  is 
division  which  is  to  result  from  not  recognizing  the  existence 
and  acts  of  certain  Presbyteries  and  Synods.  This  is  the  only 
effective  provision  in  the  whole  act.  All  its  other  recom- 
mendations may  be  adopted,  and  no  division  occur;  but  if  this 
be  acted  upon,  division  is  inevitable.  Is  the  church  then  pre- 
pared to  divide,  because  one  portion  thinks  that  A.  B.  C.  may 
lawfully  be  united  into  a  Presbytery,  on  the  ground  that  they 
wish  to  be  so  united;  and  the  other  that  A.  B.  C.  and  D. 
may  be  thus  united,  because  they  live  within  the  same  geo- 
graphical lines?  The  motive  for  the  wish,  in  the  former  case, 
does  not  affect  the  principle.  It  may  be  a  corrupt  motive,  or  a 
good  one.  Some  individuals  in  Philadelphia  wished  to  be  set 
apart  into  a  Presbytery,  it  was  said,  because  they  differed  from 
the  standards  to  which  the  majority  of  their  Presbytery  adhered. 
Other  individuals  in  Cincinnati  wished  to  be  set  apart  in  like 
manner,  it  was  said,  because  they  adhered  to  the  standards, 
while  the  majority  of  their  brethren  were  unsound.  Admit  both 
these  suppositions  to  be  correct,  and  both  requests  to  have  been 
granted,  and  we  have  two  elective  affinity  Presbyteries,  the  one 
formed  from  a  desire  to  evade  the  operation  of  the  constitution, 
and  the  other  to  give  it  its  full  force.  We  think  the  principle  is 
a  bad  one ;  but  it  is  clear  it  may  operate  one  way  as  well  as  the 
other,  and  that  it  is  not  to  be  viewed  as  a  device  designed  to  form 
a  secure  retreat  for  heresy.  The  fact  is,  that  the  members  of  ouf 
Presbyteries  are  so  much  intermixed,  especially  in  our  cities, 
where  not  only  ministers,  but  even  churches  frequently  change 
their  location,  that  the  necessity  of  definite  geographical  limits 
has  never  been  strenuously  insisted  upon.  As  the  geographical 
is  the  obvious,  and,  in  ninety-nine  cases  out  of  a  hundred,  the 
most  convenient  principle  of  division,  and  the  one  which  the  con- 
stitution directs  to  be  followed,  it  is  clear  that  it  ought  to  be  ad- 
hered to.  But  can  any  one  prevail  upon  himself  to  say,  that  the 
church  must  be  split  to  pieces,  because,  in  a  single  case,  another 
principle  has  been  adopted?  The  fact  is,  that  this  matter  is,  com- 
paratively speaking,  altogether  insignificant;  and  it  never  would 
have  attracted  the  least  attention,  were  it  not  for  the  supposed 
motive  which  led  to  the  adoption  of  the  elective  affl^iity  principle. 
Had  a  Synod  constituted  twelve  mini'sters,  resident  in  one  city, 

*  Since  writina;  the  above,  we  p<ee  that  thia  intention  is  denied,  in  the 
Presbyterian.  We  have  heard  other  signers  of  the  Aet  and  Testimony, 
however,  very  distinctly  avow  their  desire  to  effect  a  division  of  the  church. 


/. 


166  OLD    SCHOOL    VIIfDICATED. 

all  of  them  equally  distinguished  for  soundness  of  doctrine  and 
purity  of  life,  six  into  one  Presbytery,  and  six  into  another,  simply 
because  it  had  been  so  requested,  would  the  whole  church  be  agi- 
tated, when  it  was  ascertained  that  the  members  of  the  one  body 
were  not  separated  geographically  from  those  of  the  other?  This 
no  one  can  believe.  It  is  not,  therefore,  the  simple  principle  in 
question,  however  generally  admitted  to  be  incorrect,  that  is  the 
cause  of  this  deep  and  extended  feeling.  If  this  he  true,  it  ought 
not  to  be  thrust  forward  as  a  test  principle.  The  church  ought 
not  to  be  called  upon  to  deny  the  constitutional  existence  of  bodies 
constituted  on  this  plan,  and  by  this  denial,  render  schism  una- 
voidable. Brethren  agreed  in  doctrine  and  views  of  order  and 
discipline,  united  in  heart  and  efibrt,  ought  not  to  be  thrust  asun- 
der, because,  on  such  a  point  as  this,  they  cannot  agree. 

"  We  can  hardly  persuade  ourselves  that  reflecting  men  can 
consider  this  matter,  viewed  as  an  abstract  constitutional  pointy 
of  sufficient  importance  to  justify  schism.  Yet  this  is  really  the 
issue  made  and  presented  in  the  Act  and  Testimony.  Refusal  to 
retract  on  this  point  was  the  great  offence  of  the  last  Assembly. 
As  soon  as  this  refusal  was  known,  preparation  was  made  for 
issuing  this  manifesto.  We  do  not  doubt,  as  already  said,  that 
the  real  ground  of  offence,  the  true  cause  of  the  present  excite- 
ment, is  not  this  insignificant  question,  but  the  impression  as  to 
the  motive  which  governed  the  decision  of  the  Assembly.  Still 
this  is  the  question  as  here  presented.  It  is  not  pretended  that  the 
Assembly  formally  sanctioned  the  errors  enumerated  in  this  doc- 
ument, it  countenanced  and  sustained  them,  by  the  erection  of 
the  Second  Presbytery  of  Philadelphia,  and  by  the  refusal  to  con- 
sent to  its  dissolution.  These  are  the  acts,  therefore,  which  are 
the  grounds  of  complaint,  and  which  the  churches  are  called  upon 
to  disregard.  The  issue,  therefore,  is  upon  a  constitutional  point 
of  very  minor  importance. 

"  Our  second  specific  objection,  then,  to  this  Act  and  Testimony 
is,  that  it  recommends  a  disregard  of  the  regular  authority  of  the 
church  which  we  are  bound  to  obey;  and  that  the  ground  of  this 
recommendation  is,  in  our  opinion,  altogether  insufficient.  The 
consequence  of  adopting  the  proposed  course,  must  be  either  to 
divide  the  church  on  a  constitutional  question  of  little  comparative 
moment,  or  to  produce  a  state  of  the  greatest  confusion  and  diffi- 
culty. A  third  objection,  and  the  only  other  of  this  kind  we  shall 
merition,  is  founded  on  the  eighth  and  last  recommendation,  viz. 
«Wedo  earn»sily  recommend,  that  on  the  second  Thursday  of 
May,  1835,  a  convention  be  held  in  the  city  of  Pittsburgh,  to  be 
composed  of  two  delegates,  a  minister  and  ruling  elder  fr-'m  each 
Presbytery,  or  from  "the  minority  of  any  Presbytery,  who  may 
concur  in  the  sentiments  of  this  Act  and  Testimony,  to  deliberate 


OLD   SCHOOL    VINDICATED.  167 

and  consult  on  tlie  present  state  of  our  church,  and  to  adopt  such 
measures  as  may  be  best  suited  to  restore  her  prostrated  stand- 
ards.' The  objections  to  this  recommendation  are  nearly  the  same 
urged  against  the  one  already  considered.  It  is  essentially  a  revo- 
lutionary proceeding.  It  is  an  appeal  from  the  constitutional  go- 
vernment, to  the  people  in  their  primary  bodies.  When  this  is  done, 
merely  for  the  expression  or  formation  of  a  public  sentiment,  which 
may  exert  its  legitimate  influence  upon  the  regular  authorities,  there 
is  no  ground  of  complaint.  Analogy  is  to  be  found  to  such  a  course 
in  the  public  meetings  and  conventions  under  our  civil  govern- 
ment, which  are  perfectly  consistent  both  with  the  theory  and 
regular  action  of  our  institutions.  But  the  case  before  us  is  very 
difTerent.  A  large  meeting  first  declare  certain  acts  unconstitu- 
tional, and  resolve  not  to  submit  to  them.  They  invite  others  to 
join  in  this  refusal,  and  to  send  delegates  to  meet  in  general  con- 
vention to  adopt  ulterior  measures.  They  first  lake  a  step  which 
brings  them  necessarily  into  collision  with  the  government,  and 
then  call  on  all  of  like  mind  to  unite  with  them.  The  analogy  is 
so  complete  between  this  case  and  that  which  recently  convulsed 
our  whole  country,  and  threatened  the  existenre  of  i)ur  political 
institutions,  that  none  can  fail  to  perceive  it.  There  ran,  there- 
fore, be  no  invidiousness  in  making  the  allusion.  An  act  of  the 
general  government  was  pronounced  by  the  people  of  one  of  the 
states,  to  be  unconstitutional  and  consequently  void.  They  de- 
liberately resolved  to  refuse  to  submit  to  it.  Whether  this  was 
right  or  wrong,  it  was  regarded  by  the  country  as  creating  a  ne- 
cessity for  one  of  two  things;  either  that  the  act  should  be  re- 
pealed, or  the  Union  dissolved  by  secession  or  war.  It  was  in- 
deed, in  itself,  a  conditional  dissolution  of  the  Union.  The  con- 
dition was  the  repeal  of  the  offensive  act.  If  this  was  refused, 
the  union  was  at  an  end.  When,  under  these  circumstances,  the 
state  in  question  proposed  to  call  a  convention  of  all  who  agreed 
with  her  in  opinion  as  to  the  grievance  complained  of,  did  not 
every  one  regard  the  proposal  as  a  step  in  advance,  as  a  measure 
designed  and  adapted  to  make  the  breach  more  certain  and  se- 
rious? Of  this  there  can  be  no  doubt.  Public  sentiment  was 
overwhelmingly  against  the  wisdom  and  lawfulness  of  the  course 
of  this  aggrieved  member  of  our  Union.  The  remedy,  as  extra- 
constitutional  and  revolutionary,  was  deemed  disproporlioned  to 
the  malady.  Yet  it  was  on  all  hands  admitted  that  there  might 
lie  evils,  whinh,  being  intolerable,  would  justify  this  dissolution  of 
political  society,  and  the  disruption  of  all  existing  bonds  of  politi- 
cal duty  and  allegiance.  So  in  the  case  before  us,  if  the  evils 
complained  of  are  such  as  justify  the  dissolution  of  the  church, 
and  the  disregard  of  the  solemn  obligations  by  which  we  have 
bound  ourselves  together,  then  the  case  is  made  out.     The  pro- 


i<i 


168  OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED. 

priety  of  the  Act  and  Testimony  is  vindicated.  The  point  now 
before  us,  however,  is,  the  true  nature  of  its  recommendaiions. 
We  say  they  are  extra-constitutional  and  revolutionary,  and  should 
be  opposed  by  all  those  who  do  not  believe  that  the  crisis  demands 
the  dissolution  of  the  church.  If  such  a  crisis  be  made  out,  or 
assumed,  then  afl  the  rest  is  a  mere  question  of  the  ways  and 
means. 

"  We  do  not  believe  that  any  such  crisis  exists.  That  there 
has  been  much  disorder  of  various  kinds  within  our  bounds,  that 
there  has  been  a  good  deal  of  erroneous  doctrine  preached  and 
published,  and  that  many  judicatories  have  been  criminally  remiss 
in  matters  of  discipline,  we  do  not  doubt.  These  are  evils  with 
regard  to  which  the  churches  should  be  instructed  and  warned, 
and  every  constitutional  means  be  employed  for  their  correction. 
But  what  we  maintain  is,  that  there  has  been  no  such  corruption 
of  doctrine  or  remissness  in  discipline  a-s  to  justify  the  division  ot 
the  church,  and  consequently  all  measures  having  that  design  and 
tendency  are  wrong  and  ought  to  be  avoided. 

"  To  exhibit  fully  the  grounds  of  this  opinion,  would  require  us 
to  review  the  origin  and  progress  of  the  present  difficulties,  and 
consequently  render  it  necessary  for  us  to  enter  into  historical  de- 
tails too  extensive  for  our  limits,  and  inconsistent  with  our  present 
object.  We  must,  therefore,  be  contented  with  the  remark,  that 
the  burden  of  proof  rests  on  those  who  assert  that  such  a  crisis 
does  exist.  This  proof  has  not  yet  been  exhibited.  Until  it  is, 
we  can  only  say,  that  we  do  not  believe  there  is  any  call  for  the 
extreme  measures  proposed  in  the  Act  and  Testimony. 

"  We  believe,  indeed,  that  there  are  a  number  of  men  in  our 
church,  who  hold  doctrinal  opinions  which  ought  to  have  pre- 
cluded their  admission,  and  who  should  now  be  visited  by  regular 
ecclesiastical  process.  But  we  believe  this  number  to  be  com- 
paratively small.  We  have  never  doubted  that  there  was  serious 
ground  of  apprehension  for  the  purity  of  our  church.  Considering 
the  ease  with  which  men  are  introduced  into  our  communion^ 
who,  not  being  brought  up  among  us,  know  nothing  and  care 
nothing  about  Presbyterianism,  it  is  very  evident  that  we  must 
have  a  constant  accession  of  unsound,  and  even  hostile  men,  if 
our  judicatories  are  not  faithful  to  their  vows.  We  have  often 
wondered,  indeed,  at  the  facility  with  which  decided  Congrega- 
tionalists,  so  born  and  educated,  become  Presbyterians.  We  re- 
joice to  see  that  there  is  a  general  Congregational  Association 
formed  in  the  state  of  New  York.  Those  brethren  who  really 
prefer  the  Congregational  system,  may  now  indulge  that  prefer- 
ence, instead  of  being  forced  to  submit  to  the  painful  necessity  of 
joining  a  church,  with  whose  distinctive  organization  they  are 
unacquainted,  or  to  which  they  are  unfriendly.    This  is  the  Kiaia 


OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED.  169 

evil,  which  it  requires  nothing  but  honesty  on  the  part  of  the 
Presbyteries  effectually  to  prevent.  Wc  are  happy  in  laiowing 
that  at  least  one  case  has  occurred,  in  which  a  Presbytery,  where 
there  is  not,  to  our  knowledge,  a  single  adherent  of  the  Old  School, 
has  deliberately,  and  almost  unanimously,  refused  to  ordain  a  can- 
didate who  held  the  popular  errors  on  depi-avity  and  regeneration. 
There  are  not  wanting  other  decisive  and  cheering  intimations 
that  the  portentous  union  between  the  New  Divinity  and  the  New 
Measures,  which  threatened  to  desolate  the  church,  has,  at  least 
for  the  present,  done  its  worst.  The  latter,  but  scarcely  the  lesser, 
of  this  firm  of  evils,  is,  to  all  appearance,  dead.  Its  course  doubt- 
less will  be  marked  by  melancholy  memorials  for  generations* 
But  as  the  great  mass  of  the  wisdom  and  piety  of  the  country 
(we  are  speaking  of  the  north  and  east)  were  found  decidedly  ar- 
rayed against  it,  we  trust  the  church  will  be  spared  such  another 
visitation.  And  even  as  to  the  other  member  of  the  firm,  we  hope 
the  shout  of  victory  from  its  advocates  was  rather  a  mistake.  U 
we  may  credit  what  we  hear,  the  novelty  being  over,  the  wonder 
is  on  the  decline.  It  is  said,  that  out  of  the  immediate  sphere  of 
the  origin  of  the  theory,  its  friends  are  very  few,  and  very  far 
between. 

*'  But  let  it  be  supposed  that  in  all  this  we  are  mistaken,  that 
the  corruption  in  doctrine,  and  remissness  in  discipline,  are  far 
more  extensive  than  we  imagine.  Let  it  even  be  admitted,  that 
the  General  Assembly,  after  having  long  connived  at  alarming 
errors,  has  at  length  countenanced  and  sustained  them.  Let 
every  thing  be  admitted  which  we  have  endeavoured  to  disprove. 
Still,  the  case  of  the  Act  and  Testimony  is  not  made  out.  The 
necessity  or  propriety  of  schism  does  not  appear.  Is  Christ  di- 
vided '?  If  the  head  be  one,  should  the  body  so  easily  be  separated  f 
Is  not  the  visible  union  of  the  people  of  God,  as  the  expression  of 
their  spiritual  union  to  each  other  and  the  Lord  Jesus,  a  solemn 
obligation?  To  what  a  lamentable  condition  would  the  church  be 
reduced,  if,  on  every  occasion  of  disappointment  or  excitement, 
or  even  of  serious  mistake,  injustice,  or  error,  her  members  were 
to  separate  into  distinct  communions !  We  are  not  about  to  advo- 
cate a  spurious  liberality,  or  defend  a  spirit  of  compromise  with 
remissness  or  error.  We  merely  wish  to  state,  that  the  division 
of  a  church  of  Jesus  Christ  is  a  very  serious  thing,  expressly  for- 
bidden in  the  word  of  God,*  and  only  to  be  justified  by  the  most 
obvious  necessity. 

"What  then  constitutes  a  necessity  for  schism,  and  makes  that 
crime  a  virtue?  We  venture  to  answer,  that  no  man  is  at  liberty 
to  labour  for  a  division  of  the  church  to  which  he  belongs,  unless 

*  1  Ccr.  i.,  10. 


170  OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED. 

he  and  others  are  called  upon  either  to  profess  what  they  think 
erroneous,  or  to  do  what  they  think  wrong.  As  the  duty  of  pre- 
serving the  unity  of  the  church  is  obvious  and  admitted,  the  se- 
ceders  must  make  out  that  they  are  free  from  this  solemn  obliga- 
tion. But  what  can  free  them  from  the  solemn  obligation  of  duty, 
but  the  interference  of  some  stronger  obligation?  So  long  as  the 
standards  of  any  church  remain  unaltered,  its  members  profess 
the  same  faith  which  they  avowed  when  they  joined  it.  1  do  not 
})rofess  to  hold  or  to  teach  what  A.  B.  or  C.  may  be  known  lo 
believe,  but  I  profess  to  believe  the  Confession  of  Faith  of  the 
church  to  which  I  belong.  It  matters  not,  therefore,  so  far  as 
this  point  is  concerned,  how  corrupt  a  portion,  or  even  the  ma- 
jority, of  the  church  may  be,  provided  I  am  not  called  upon  to 
profess  their  errors.  Instead  of  my  mere  ecclesiastical  connexion 
with  them  being  a  countenancing  of  their  errors,  it  may  give  me 
the  best  opportunity  of  constantly  testifying  against  them.  Who 
have  done  so  much  to  render  conspicuous  and  odious  the  errors 
and  unfaithfulness  of  the  clergy  at  Geneva,  as  the  orthodox  and 
pious  portion  of  their  number?  The  individuals  who  previously 
seceded,  left  the  body  in  quietness  behind  them,  and  lost  in  a 
great  measure  their  ability  both  to  promote  the  truth  and  lo  op- 
pose error.  As  another  illustration,  let  us  refer  to  the  church  of 
Scotland.  Every  one  knows  the  long  controversy  between  the 
orthodox  and  the  moderate  parties  in  that  body.  Had  Dr.  VVith- 
erspoon,  and  the  faithful  men  who  acted  with  him,  lifted  the 
standard  of  division,  what  would  have  been  the  present  state  of 
that  church?  In  all  probability  it  would  be  little  better  than  that 
of  Geneva.  All  the  resources  of  the  body,  all  its  institutions,  its 
corporate  existence  and  privileges,  would  have  been  basely  (shall 
we  sav  ?)  delivered  up  to  the  enemy  as  a  contribution  to  his 
means  of  promoting  and  per()etuating  error.  By  the  faithful  ad- 
herence of  these  men  to  their  pnsts,  after  one  defeat  had  followed 
another  in  rapid  and  long  succession,  llie  church  has  been  saved. 
The  pious  and  orthodox  portion  have  gained  the  ascendancy,  and 
are  now  shaking  ofl'  the  trammels  of  patronage  and  other  anti- 
(juated  corruptif)ns,  and  wielding  the  whole  of  her  resources  for 
the  advancement  of  truth.  Blessings  will  rest  forever  on  the 
memory  of  VVitherspoon,  because  he  was  not  a  preacher  of  se- 
cession. If  others  in  that  land  of  our  ecclesiastical  fathers  had 
been  equally  wise;  if  the  numerous  body  of  evangelical  men  split 
up  into  the  sects  of  Burghers,  Anii- Burghers,  &c.,  were  now- 
united  with  their  f»rmer  brethren,  what  an  army  would  they 
form  !"  Would  any  one  be  so  infatuated  as  to  urge  the  pious  and 
devoted  members  of  the  Protestant  Church  in  France  to  secede 
from  their  brethren,  and  give  up  their  institutions  at  Strasburg 
and  Montauban,  lo  be  perpetual  nurseries  of  error  ?  Or  would  any 


OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED.  171 

one  counsel  the  orthodox  Germans  to  forsake  their  stations  on  the 
plain,  where  they  can  naeet  their  enemies  on  equal  terms,  and  go 
down  into  the  deep  and  narrow  valley  of  dissent? 

"  What  has  become  of  ihe  Alorristown  Presbytery?  VV'hat  has 
become  of  the  True  Reformed  Dutc^h  Church,  which  not  only  se- 
ceded from  their  highly  respectable  and  orthodox  brethren,  but 
had  well  nigh  excommunicated  them?  How  completely  has  the 
wave  of  oblivion  blotied  them  out !  They  have  disappeared  from 
the  visible  ranks,  at  least,  of  ih^  hosts  (»f  the  church.  Are  they 
doing  more  good,  or  preventing  more  evil  now,  than  in  their  for- 
mer connexion?  We  think  their  exam[ile  should  serve  at  once  as 
a  warning  to  any  who  are  disposed  to  secede  froin  among  us,  and 
as  a  rebuke  to  those  who  appear  anxious  to  precipitate  a  similar 
crisis  in  our  church. 

"  We  cannot  see,  then,  how  anything  is  to  be  gained,  for  the 
cause  of  truth,  by  secession;  but  we  see  how  much  will  be  lost. 
We  shall  gain  no  advantage  in  opposing  error;  but  only  lose  our 
facilities  ior  promoting  truth.  Instead  of  manifesting  fidelity  to 
the  cause  of  the  Redeemer,  we  shall  deliver  up  the  post  committed 
to  our  keeping.  Until,  therefore,  the  standards  of  the  church  are 
altered,  or  its  members  are  in  some  way  called  upon  to  profess 
error,  or  to  do  wrong,  their  motto  should  be,  'Stand  fast;  hav- 
ing OiV  THE  WHOLE  ARMOUR  OF  GoD.' 

**  We  have  now  performed  a  painful,  though,  as  we  think,  an 
imperative  duty.  VVe  have  come  out  openly  against  brethren  in 
whose  doctrinal  views  we  coincide,  whose  persons  we  love,  whose 
character  and  motives  we  respect,  with  whom  we  have  ever  been 
associated,  and  fondly  hope  ever  to  continue  united.  The  grounds 
on  which  we  have  felt  constrained  to  bear  this  testimony,  may  be 
very  briefly  stated. 

"As  we  have  already  said,  it  is  at  all  times  the  privilege,  and 
often  the  duty,  of  the  meiribers  of  a  community,  to  spread  their 
views  on  important  practical  subjects  before  their  fellow  members. 
How  constantly  is  this  di)ne  in  political  matters.  If  such  be  the 
privilege  of  every  individual,  it  is  especially  incumbent  on  those 
who  are  connected  with  the  periodical  press.  The  very  end  and 
object  of  that  press  is  the  diffusion  of  practical  knowledge,  and 
the  discussion  of  important  points  of  truth  and  duly.  We  confess, 
however,  that  we  have  had  (jther  motives  for  the  course  which 
has  been  taken.  We,  in  common  with  that  large  class  of  our 
brethren  who  do  not  belong  to  the  number  against  whom  the 
Testimony  is  direttted,  and  yet  have  not  joined  in  the  Act,  have 
felt  annoyed  by  the  urgency  which  has  been  used  to  obtain  signa- 
tures, and  the  serious  censure  lavished  on  those  who  refuse  their 
names.  It  was  necessary,  as  a  matter  of  self  vindication,  that 
the  grounds  of  this  refusal  should  be  publicly  stated.     It  should  be 


172  OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED. 

known,  that  it  was  not  fear  for  the  consequences  of  the  Act,  nor 
insensibility  to  the  evils  complained  of,  but  disapprobation  of  the 
nature  and  tendency  of  the  measure.  It  is  with  a  sincere  desire 
to  cooperate  in  the  prevention  of  the  evils,  which  we  think  must 
ensue  iVom  the  prosecution  of  the  course  proposed,  that  we  have 
lifted  up  our  voice  against  it.  Let  the  facts  and  reasons  here 
presented  pass  for  what  they  are  worth.  Let  brethren  give  them 
a  candid  consideration.  Let  them  ask  themselves,  if  when,  as 
they  suppose,  error  and  disorder  are  coming  in  like  a  flood,  they 
should  turn  their  backs  on  the  enemy,  and  leave  a  weakened  and 
discouraged  remnant  to  continue  the  battle.  What  if  they  are 
defeated,  not  once  or  twice,  but  many  times'?  Constancy  and 
truth  always  ultimately  prevail.  Let  us  only  be  careful  that  it  is 
for  truth  we  struggle,  and  that  our  weapons  are  not  carnal,  but 
spiritual,  and  there  is  no  ground  for  apprehension.  In  every 
church  there  are  fluctuations.  Sometimes  truth  and  piety  pre- 
dominate, at  others,  error  and  irreligion.  When  darkest,  it  is 
nearest  light.  In  a  church  like  ours,  we  think,  there  is  no  excuse 
for  abandoning  the  regular  constitutional  methods  of  proceeding. 
Every  man  can  free  himself  from  responsibility  for  the  errors  of 
his  brethren,  if  he  cannot  have  thenra  corrected.  He  has  all  the 
means  that  others  have  to  secure  predominance  for  his  own  views, 
and  if  they  are  correct,  he  may  confidently  hope  for  their  success. 
Let  but  the  friends  of  truth  be  humble,  prayerful,  faithful,  and  ac- 
tive; let  them  adhere  to  each  other  and  to  the  church,  and  then, 
whether  in  the  majority  or  minority  for  the  time  being,  they  will 
be  most  efTectually  serving  their  jMaster  and  his  cause." 

Before  proceeding  further  in  the  narrative,  we  think  it  proper 
to  say,  that  much  as  the  course  of  the  Repertory  was  regretted, 
deeply,  indeed,  as  it  was  disapproved  by  most  of  the  prominent 
men  in  the  ciiurch,  there  existed  in  the  public  mind  in  general,  no 
doubt  that  the  theological  principles  (A^  the  professors  were  un- 
changed. As  a  friendly  and  favourable  solution  of  their  course, 
manv  believed  it  was  based  upon  mistaken  views  as  to  the  extent 
of  defection  in  the  church;  upon  a  wrong  impression  as  to  the  de- 
sign of  the  Act  and  Testimony,  and  its  probable  influence  as  a 
remedy  for  the  evils  prevalent  in  the  church.  The  professors 
flattered  themselves  that  the  evils  complained  of  were  not  so  ex- 
tensive as  alleged,  that  the  leprosy  was  more  superficial,  and  sus- 
ceptible of  cure  by  being  let  alone,  than  the  minority  could  pos- 
sibly realize,  forming  their  opinion  from  much  more  thorough 
intercourse  with  ministers  and  people. 

Had  these  very  respectable  gentlemen  understood  "their  position 
as  their  friends  did,  and  estimated  the  object  and  character  of  the 
Jet  and  Testimony  correctly,  and  permitted  it  to  pass  on  its  own 
.merits,  without  any  expression  of  opinion,  it  would  have  been 


Of.D    SCHOOL    VINDICATED.  173 

well.  This  was  desired  and  expected.  Indeed,  taking  into  con- 
sideration that  the  document,  as  soon  as  printed,  was  in  wide  cir- 
culation, thousands  having  stood  ready  to  catch  it  from  the  press, 
it  was  immediately  and  positively  beyond  revocation.  Hence  the 
article  in  the  Repertory  could  not  possibly  have  any  salutary  in- 
fluence on  tl)e  measure  in. progress. 

The  article  from  the  Repertory,  above  inserted,  w-as  generally, 
even  by  those  who  sided  with  the  professors,  considered  an  un- 
fortunate production;  and  it  produced  more  surprise,  alarm,  and 
heart-felt  pain  among  the  Old  School  men,  than  any  thing  pre- 
viously issued  upon  the  subject.  Through  the  popularity  of  the 
journal  and.  the  supposed  writers  in  it,  its  central  location  in  the 
bosom  of  the  church,  its  being  sustained  by  the  oldest  seminary 
in  the  Presbyterian  body,  patronized  by  one  of  the  oldest,  largest, 
and  most  intelligent  Presbyteries  in  the  United  States,  it  exerted 
a  strong  influence  in  dividing- the  orthodox,  and  in  bringing  every 
thing  to  a  point  of  jeopardy.  Thus  it  greatly  aggravated  and 
protracted  the  difliculiies  then  existing  in  the  church. 

The  first  and  immediate  effect  of  that' article  was  seen  with  as- 
tonishment, in  dividing  and  paralyzing  the  Presbytery  of  New 
Brunswick,  w.hich  ought  to-  have  been  foremost  in  sustaining  the  . 
action  of  the  minority  in  the  General  Assembly  of  1834,  as  their 
manifesto  was  intended,  almost  exclusively,  to  save  from  New 
School  rapacity,  the  seminary  located  centrally  within  its  bounds. 
This  unhappy  measure  of  a  majority  of  the  Presbytery,  proceeded 
from  the  influence  of  one  or  more  of  the  professors  over  a  large 
number  of  the  junior  members,  who  had  been  connected  with  the 
seminary  under  their  care,  and  hence  were,  with  great  ease,  sub- 
jected to  their  control. 

When  this  fact  was  made  public,  the  churches,  to  a  consi- 
derable extent  around,  experienced  a  serious  shock,  and  re- 
sponded to  it  with  unfaltering  disapprobation.  In  the  various 
modes  of  condemnation  they  employed  on  this  occasion,  the 
elders  of  the  churches,  in  some  cases,  were  more  prompt  and  de- 
cided than  the  ministers,  and  in  some  instances,  did  not  hesitate 
to  reprove  the  vacillation  and  tardiness  of  their  pastors,  by  openly 
avowing  their  approbation  of  the  Jict  and  Testimony,  and  by  giv- 
ing to  it  their  public  signature.  The  unwise  and  unhappy  course 
pursued  by  the  seminary,  through  their  or,n-a72,  was,  hailed  with 
triumph  and  exultation  by  the  New  School,  as,  in  their  opinion, 
admirably  adapted  to  strengthen  their  cause  and  extend  their  in- 
fluence widely  through  the  churches.  It  is  recited  and  plead  now, 
by  Mr.  Judd,  as  one  of  his  strong  vindications  of  the  Nev^'  School 
inveteracy.  They  gave  this  document  warm  support  and  exten- 
sive circulation.  In  their  disorganizing  and  mischievous  periodi- 
cals of  every  grade,  they  spread  it  out  on  their  pages  with  triunnph, 


174  OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED. 

fraternizing,  with  apparent  sincerity,  with  this  new  and  unexpected 
accession  of  Piinceion  allies.  Indeed,  they  used  this  apparently 
congenial  instrument  wiih  great  diligence  and  adroitness,  to  sub- 
serve their  own  evil  purposes;  of  course  without  the  desue  or  de- 
sign of  its  authois. 

After  the  rising  of  the  Assembly  of  1834,  great  interest  was 
manifested  through  the  church  on  the  subject  of  the  convention 
invited  in  the  Act  and  Testimony  to  meet  in  Pittsburgh  in  May, 
prior  to  the  General  Assembly,  which  had  recently  resolved  to 
hold  its  next  annual  meeting  in  that  city.  The  New  School  were 
excessively  hostile  to  that  measure,  very  justly  fearing  that  its  in- 
fluence might  be  unfavourable  to  their  plans.  The  sympathizers 
with  the  Prin(;eton  dissent,  in  general,  assumed  the  same  position, 
and  by  their  acti(»n  undesignedly  greatly  strengthened  the  power 
of  the  New  Si-hooi  party.  Even  in  the  Presbytery  of  New  Bruns- 
wick, a  niajoiity  denounced  the  convention  as  a  caucus,  and  suc- 
ceeded in  preventing  that  Presbytery  from  sending  a  delegate  to 
represent  them  in  that  important  conservative  meeting  o(  the 
church  for  consultation.*  Already  an  impression  of  discouragc- 
tnent  and  despondence,  as  to  the  result  of  the  impending  conflict, 
began  to  affect  the  minds  of  many  adherents  of  the  Old  School 
body.  The  trustees  of  the  theological  seminary  were  engaged  in 
the  laudable  enier|)rise  of  collecting  funds  to  endow  and  establish 
that  institution  at  Princeton.  Many  who  had  either  subscribed  to 
that  fund,  or  resnlved  to  participate  in  its  accumulation,  seeing  the 
success  attendi.ig  New  School  movements,  and  the  lukewarmness 
prevalent  at  Princeton,  declined  contributing  until  the  result  could 
be  more  certainly  predicted.  Even  the  trustees  of  the  seminary, 
not  knowing  how  soon,  and  how  totally,  the  whole  institution, 
with  its  professors,  edifices,  libraries,  funds,  and  assets  en  masse, 
tnight  pass  into  the  hands  of  the  New  School,  gave  distinct  inti- 
mations to  their  agents  and  collectors  to  suspend  their  operations, 
considering  it  much  better  that  the  funds  in  hand  or  in  prospect 
should  remain  in  possession  of  the  donors,  than  be  placed  within 
reach  of  the  rapacious  foe.  And  what  cannot  but  be  regarded  as 
remarkable,  while  the  condition  and  prospects  of  the  church  gene- 
rally, and  of  the  seminary  in  particular,  were  hanging  in  this  state 
of  torturing  suspense,  the  opposers  of  the  Jlct  and  Testimony  some 
time  continued  their  hostility  to  that  document,  and  the  general 
relief  measures  contemplated. 

So  imminently  exposed  was  the  whole  interest  of  the  Presbyte- 
rian Church  considered,  in  consequence  of  the  successes  attending 
New  School  artifice  and  encroachment,  that  a  company  of  gen- 
tlemen were  designated  by  a  large  and  respectable  number  of  the 

*  The  member  who  at^^ended  that  convention  from  this  Presbytery,  weni 
At  the  suggestion  of  the  minority  in  Presbytery. 


OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED.  175 

Old  School,  to  proceed  in  a  noiseless  and  unobserved  manner,  to 
wait  upon  the  professors  at  their  homes,  lo  reason  and  remonstrate 
with  them  on  the  subject  of  their  position,  if  possible  to  induce 
them  to  concur  with  their  brethren  in  the  public  action  of  the 
church.  These  gentlemen,  agreeably  to  the  arrangement  made, 
for  them,  assembled  at  Princeton  in  the  autumn  of  1836,  and  met 
the  professors  in  Dr.  Hodge's  study,  whither  they  had  been  in- 
vited to  repair.  At  this  conference,  the  three  professors  of  the 
seminary  attended,  and  the  Rev.  J.  W.  Alexander  was  also  pre- 
sent. The  following  members  of  the  Old  School  deputation  were 
in  attendance;  Rev.  Dr.  James  Blythe,  of  South  llanover,  Indi- 
ana, Dr.  C.  C.  Cuyler,  of  Philadelphia,  Dr.  George  Junkin,  of 
Easton,  Pennsylvania,  Dr.  W.  W.  Phillips,  of  New  York,  and  last 
and  least,  the  humble  penman  of  these  pages. 

Nothing  important  or  decisive  was  exhibited  in  this  interview, 
The  parties,  respectively,  with  much  moderation,  stated  their 
views,  but  without  any  decisive  result.  In  the  course  of  these 
remarks,  a  gentleman  in  company  took  liberty  to  observe,  that  to 
him  there  did  not  appear  to  be  any  great  or  serious  obstacles  be- 
tween them,  and  that  it  really  seemed  very  deplorable  that  so 
great  an  interest  should  be  left  in  suspense  when  the  only  differ- 
ence appeared  to  be  a  mere  matter  of  church  policy.  After  an 
interim  of  silence,  perhaps  five  minutes  in  duration,  the  Rev. 
James  W.  Alexander,  then  comparatively  a  young  man,  in  a 
very  unassuming  and  respectful  manner,  repeated  the  suggestion, 
that  there  was  really  very  little  difi'erence  or  distance  between  the 
parlies,  and  manifested  a  strong  desire  that  an  entire  reconcilia- 
tion should  take  place.  He  urged  very  gently,  that  the  parties 
both  desired  the  same  thing,  and  they  differed  merely  as  to  the 
best  manner  of  accomplishing  it.  This,  said  he,  is  not  a  sufficient 
ground  upon  which  to  jeopardize  so  great  an  interest;  wise  men 
do  not  act  in  this  manner.  In  a  strain  somewhat  like  this,  and  of 
very  little  greater  extent,  this  remarker  did  more,  probably,  to- 
wards adjusting  the  dilficulty,  than  any  one  who  had  preceded 
him.  The  tone,  as  well  as  temper  of  his  remarks,  seemed  a  little 
above  his  years,  and  that  gave  to  them  a  peculiar  emphasis. 
After  considerable  deliberation  on  the  subject  among  the  assem- 
bled delegates,  though  labouring  under  a  disappointment  which 
they  all  greatly  regretted,  it  was  resolved  to  entrust  the  church  a 
while  longer  amidst  appalling  contingencies,  to  her  watchful  and 
gracious  owner  and  keeper,  without  attempting  any  change  in 
their  system  of  action,  and  to  press  it  on  with  all  possible  zeal 
and  vigor.  The  minuteness  of  this  detail  is  intended  to  show  the 
extreme  despondence  on  the  state  and  prospects  of  the  church, 
which  had  seized  the  minds  of  many  who  were  supposed  to  be  as 
well  informed  as  any  others  on  the  subject,  and  thus  in  some 


176  OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED. 

measure  to  vindicate  the  orthodox  body  in  general,  for  the  mea- 
sures they  ultimately  adopted  to  relieve  the  church. 

Although  the  professors,  and  a  majority  of  the  Presbytery  of 
New  Brunswick  who  acted  in  concert  with  them,  were  still  con- 
sidered as  belonging  to  the  Old  School  in  reality,  yet  their  conduct 
was  hi^lily  disapproved  as  tending  to  produce  suspicion,  and  to 
weaken  their  iniluence,  and  to  impair  the  standing  and  usefulness 
of  the  seminary.  To  illustrate  and  confirm  the  preceding  state- 
ment, we  introduce  the  following  incident.  In  a  neighbouring 
city  lived  a  rich,  intelligent,  and  very  devoted  elder  of  the  Old 
.School  bod}',  of  Scotch  origin,  education,  and  form  of  religion. 
His  zeal  for  the  church  was  as  strong  as  any  other  layman's.  In 
common  with  many  of  less  distinction,  he  had  received  an  im- 
pression that  very  |)robably  the  church,  through  the  indefatigable 
and  unscrupulous  action  of  the  New  School,  and  this  unhappy 
diversion  of  the  Professors  and  others  in  and  about  Princeton, 
would  in  a  short  time  go  into  New  School  possession  and  control. 
He  was  not  in  favour  of  disgracing  the  Presbyterian  name,  and 
scandalizing  Christianity,  by  a  protracted  warfare  with  such  des- 
perate men  as  he  saw  in  tlie  field  labouring  for  the  captivity  of 
our  Zion.*  He  occupied  a  first  rate  post  for  intelligence,  and 
well  knew  the  inveteracy  of  the  assailants,  and  honestly  believed 
that  they  would  never  relinquish  their  object  till  the  church  was 
in  their  power,  and  the  seminary  plundered  of  its  sacred  spoils. 
He  was,  consequently,  very  solicitous  that  the  Princeton  delega- 
tion should  ascertain  whether  the  theological  gentlemen  there, 
who  had  seconded  the  revolt  from  the  Act  and  Testimony,  were 
determined  to  persist  in  their  course.  Unless  some  favourable 
indications  should  be  given,  he  and  others  like-minded,  had  re- 
solved to  abandon  Princeton  immediately  to  the  control  of  the 
adversar}',  and  take  measures  instantly  to  establish  another  semi- 
nary, on  grounds  entirely  out  of  their  reach.  For  this  purpose, 
the  monev  was  ready  in  bank;  a  beautiful  site,  with  appropriate 
grounds  and  edifices,  was  selected  ;  the  principal  officers  for  the 
institution  were  designated  from  among  the  most  prominent  in 
our  church,  and  every  thing  ready  for  action.  But  the  delegates 
did  not,  on  the  whole,  consider  the  condition  of  the  seminary  at 
Princeton,  exposed  as  it  was,  sufficiently  desperate  to  warrant  so 
great  a  sacrifice  and  so  decisive  a  change  at  that  time.  In  this 
feeling  our  highly  respected  fi'iends  in  New  York  cordially  ac- 
quiesced. 

The  following  remarks  and  quotations  are  inserted  to  explain 
the  public  character  and  position  of  Dr.  A.  Alexander,  so  far  as 

'■  The  distinjcnished  ojentlemfin  here  referred  to  was  the  Hon.  liohert 
Lenox,  of  Wall  Street  Church,  New  York. 


OLD    SCHOOL    VINBKJATED.v  lilt 

connected  with  the  reform  measures- in  the  Pt-ssbyterian  Church, 
adopted  by  the  successive  General,  Assemblies  of  1830  to  1838. 

From  the  year  1830  to  1837,  the  friends  of  Dr.  Alexander,  know- 
ing his  peculiar  situation  and  great  influence,  felt  anxious  to  discover 
his  opinions  on  the  great  question  pending  in  the  church.  Being 
very  silent  or  uncommunicative  on  the  subjects  involved,  very 
little  was  known  with  certainty  in  regard  to  his  private  thoughts. 
Hence  he  was  involved  indiscriminately  and  most  reluctantly  in 
the  feeling  vvbich  circulated  to  some  extent,  unfavourable  to  the 
course  pursued  by  most  of  the  Princeton  theologians.  Public 
opinion  was  unavoidably  involved  in  suspense  by  this  want  of 
light  or  evidence  on  the  subject,  in  regard  to  several  of  these 
gentlemen. 

It  is  exceedingly  gratifying  to  the  writer,  to  find  himself  able  to 
shed  much  light  on  this  interesting  chapter  of  our  history,  by  ex- 
tracts from  the  "  Life  of  Dr.  Alexander"  by  his  son,  recently  pub- 
lished, New  York,  8  vo.,  by  Charles  Scribner,  145  Nassau  street, 
a  channel  of  intelligence  on  every  subject  treated,  and  especially 
upon  this,  of  the  most  important  and  unsuspected  character.  And 
what  renders  this  testimony  the  more  agreeable  to  the  writer,  is, 
the  fact  that  all  the  items  of  knowledge  which  he  had  collected 
from  long  and  familiar  intercourse  with  the  Professor  and  other 
authentic  sources,  in  regard  to  this  matter,  and  even  most  of  the 
iiypothetical  opinions  he  had  entertained  from  partial  indications, 
find  in  these  brief  extracts  from  Dr.  Alexander's  biography,  illus- 
tration and  support. 

On  page  473^  he  says:  "  That  there  exists  a  difference  in  opin- 
ion in  the  church,  in  reference  to  certain  doctrinal  points,  and  as 
to  the  precise  import  of  the  act  adopting  the  Confession  of  Faith, 
by  candidates,  at  their  licensure  and  ordination,. cannot  be  denied' 
or  concealed."  Again:  "We  wished  it  to  be  understood,  that 
we  were  the  determined  opponents  of  all  those  in  our  communion 
who  manifested  a  leaning  towards  Arminian  or  Pelagian  opinions 
in  theology,  or  who  discovered  a  disposition  to  invade  the  princi- 
]les  of  Presbyterian  Church  government,  or  to  exchange  them  for 
those  of  the  Congregational  system.  Against  these,  and  against 
all  who  manifested  a  desire  to  favour  them,  we  have  lifted  our 
voice  from  time  to  time."  Several  of  these  extracts  are  such  as. 
were  copied  by  Dr.  Alexander's  biographer,  either  from  private 
i.o'es  or  published  essays. 

On  page  47.5,  early  as  the  year  1831,  he  writes  to  a  former 
pupil:  "My  mind  is  fall  of  gloomy  apprehensions  respecting  the- 
affairs  of  our  church,  since  the  meeting  of  the  last  General  As- 
sembly. I  cannnt  foresee  whither  we  shall  be  driven.  I  had' 
never  suspected  that  the  new  men  and  new  measures  would  so» 
soon  prevail  in  the  supreme  judicatory  of  our  church.     .     .     » 

M 


178  OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED. 

The  burden  and  heat  of  the  day  will  soon  come  upon  the  young 
men,  who  will  have  great  need  to  be  strong,  to  preserve  the  ark 
of  the  Lord  from  falling  into  the  hands  of  ihe  Philistines.  Quit 
yourselves  like  men."  In  a  letter  to  Rev.  VV".  S.  Plutner,  he 
writes:  "Stand  up  bravely  for  the  religion  of  your  fathers,  which 
is  also  ours  by  deliberate  choice,  as  well  as  inheritance."  In 
1834,  he  says:  "If  it  is  now  found  that  our  diilerenees  are  so 
wide  thctt  we  cannot  live  in  peace,  let  us  peaceably  agree  to  sepa- 
rate into  two  distinct  denominations."  Some  time  after,  from 
surveying  the  conflicts  likely  to  result  from  division,  he  uses  the 
following  language,  page  476:  "Upon  mature  deliberation,  there- 
fore, we  declare  our  sentiments  to  be  opposed  to  all  scheme.-* 
which  tend  to  the  division  of  the  Presbyterian  Church."  But 
soon,  from  counter  views,  his  mind  is  changed  :  "  Our  church  can- 
not proceed  much  farther  under  her  present  organization.  The 
General  Assembly  ought  not  to  be  long  continued  in  its  present 
form.  .  .  .  It  IS  necessary,  for  our  very  existence,  that  we 
should  separate."    Page  477. 

These  few  short  extracts  indicate  with  sufficient  clearness  the 
course  Dr.  Alexander  pursued  through  the  trying  season  here  re- 
ferred to.  He  believed  separation  of  such  discordant  elements 
unavoidable — -indeed  necessary — and  yet  took  no  active  part  in 
the  measures  leading  to  it,  except  urging  on,  as  above,  junior 
ministers  in  the  church.  He  never  signed  the  Act  and  Ttstanony, 
which  was  the  grand  entering  wedge  of  reform  in  the  church. 
But  it  is  not  known  to  the  writer,  that,  by  any  public  act  or  ex- 
pression, he  ever  opposed  or  disapproved  it.  And  nothing  is  more 
certain — the  minutes  of  the  decisive  Assembly  of  1837  fully  prove 
and  record  the  fact — that  he  was  among  the  foremost,  if  nut  the 
very  first,  to  suggest  and  carry  out  several  of  the  triumphant 
measures  in  general,  which  arose  out  of  the  Act  and  Testimony, 
and  were  substantially  based  upon  it.  It  is  a  sufficient  reason  'iov 
the  Doctor's  not  signing  that  document,  that  he  was  daily  sur- 
rounded with  a  cluster  of  gentlemen,  most  of  whom, were  un- 
friendlv  to  it,  from  whom  a  gentleman  of  his  delicate  sensibihty 
and  refinement  of  feeling,  standing  in  the  relation  he  sustained, 
would  naturally  desire  not  to  appear  to  difler. 

As  the  Presbytery  of  New  Drunswick  has  been  seriously  cen- 
sured, as  a  body,  for  its  opposition  to  the  Act  and  Tesfiniony,  the 
incipient  reform  nieasure  cominenced  in  the  Assembly  ot  ]S34, 
justice  to  this  Presbytery  requires  the  introduction  into  this  nar- 
rative, of  the  two  extracts  following,  from  their  minutes,  in  Octo- 
ber, 1836,  and  October,  1837. 

Extract  from  the  Minutes  of  the  Presbytery  of  New  Biunswick, 
Freehold,  October  Ath,  1836,  viz  : 

*'  Mr.  1.  V.  Brown  introduced  summary  resolutions  on  the  slate 


OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED.  179 

of  the  church,  which  were  read  and  committed  to  Dr.  Miller,  Mr. 
Brown,  D.  V.  McLean,  Sluddiford,  Stryker,  and  VVynkoop." 

The  committee  to  whom  were  referred  the  resolutions  intro- 
duced by  Mr.  Brown,  reported;  the  report  was  amended  and 
adopted,  and  is  as  follows,  viz: 

"I.  Rt'soloed,  That  in  the  opinion  of  this  Presbytery,  the  Rev. 
Albert  Barnes,  in  his  Notes  on  the  Epistle  to  the  Romans,  has 
published  opinions  materially  at  variance  with  the  Confession  ot 
Faith  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  and  with  the  word  of  God, 
especially  with  regard  to  original  sin,  the  relation  of  man  to 
Adam,  and  justification  by  faith  in  the  atoning  sacrifice  of  the 
Redeemer;  that  the  manner  in  which  ho  has  controverted  the 
language  and  doctrines  of  our  standards,  is  highly  reprehensible, 
and  adapted  to  pervert  the  minds  of  the  rising  generation  from 
the  simplicity  of  the  gospel  plan;  and  that  the  work  referred  to, 
in  its  amended  form  in  a  late  edition,  contains  representations 
vs'hich  cannot  be  reconciled  with  the  letter  or  spirit  of  our  public 
standards,  and  of  the  Sacred  Scriptures;  especialJy  as  Mr.  Barnes 
has  declared  that  he  does  not  wish  it  to  be  understood,  that  in  his 
verbal  alterations  he  has  changed  a  single  sentiment. 

"  II.  Resolved,  That  this  Presbytery,  in  superintending  the  theo- 
logical education  of  Mr.  Barnes,  saw  no  satisfactory  evidence 
that  he  was  unsound  in  the  faith;  and  in  taking  his  obligation  for 
licensure,  they  supposed  him  to  be  candid  and  honest,  in  receiving 
the  standards  of  our  church  without  reservation,  according  to  the 
obvious  import  of  the  constitution.  They  cannot,  therefore,  but 
view  with  surprise,  deep  regret,  and  disapprobation,  the  following 
declarations,  contained  in  his  pretended  vindication:  *I  have  not 
changed  my  views  materially  since  I  was  licensed  to  preach  the 
gospel.  In  the  theological  seminary  at  Princeton,  my  views, 
which  were  the  same  as  now,  were  fully  knovi'n;  by  the  Presby- 
tery of  New  Brunswick,  by  which  I  was  licensed,  they  were,  or 
might  have  been,  fully  known.'  The  Presbytery,  in  tenderness 
to  Mr.  Ijarnes,  forbear  to  make  any  remark  on  these  assertions, 
and  leave  them  to  a  candid  and  discerning  public,  to  draw  the 
unavoidable  inference. 

'*  III.  Resoloed,  That  the  right  to  private  construction  of  articles, 
asserted  by  ministers  of  our  communion  in  the  ordination  engage- 
ment, the  practice  openly  advocated  by  many,  of  adopting  the 
standards  of  our  church  *as  a  system  and  for  substance  of  doc- 
trine,' and  the  plan  of  making  mental  reservations  in  that  solemn 
service,  with  a  view  to  'examining  the  language  and  forming  an 
opinion'  afterwards  of  the  doctrines  received,  are  errors  which 
derive  no  countenance  either  from  the  constitution  of  our  church, 
or  her  practice,  while  uncorrupted — errors  which  this  Presbytery 
have,  not  only  with  undeviating  uniformity  avoided  sanctioning 


180  OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED. 

or  in  the  slightest  degree  tolerating  within  our  body,  but  which  they 
consider  as  uncandid  and  dishonest,by  whomsoever  practiced  ;-as  in- 
consistent with  a  right  understanding  of  the  terms  of  our  ordination 
vow ;  as  opening  a  door  for  corruption  and  disorder  in  the  church ; 
and  as  a  violation  of  the  spirit  of  the  constitution,  which  declares, 
chap,  xxviii,  sec.  4,  that  'an  oath  is  to  be  taken  in  the  plain  and 
common  sense  of  the  words,  without  equivocation  or  mental  re- 
servation.' 

*'  IV.  Resolced,  That  whereas  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the 
United  States,  in  their  constiluiion  and  form  of  government,  and 
in  repeated  declarations  made  through  their  representatives,  have 
solemnly  recognized  the  importance  of  the  missionary  cause,  and 
their  obligation,  as  well  as  right,  to  promote  it  by  all  means  in 
their  power;  and  whereas  their  acknowledgment  and  declaratian 
have  never  gone  forth  to  the  full  extent  of  the  obligations  imposed 
upon  them  by  the  head  of  the  church ;  and  whereas  this  Presby- 
tery solemnly  believe,  that  one  principal  object  in  the  constitution 
of  the  church,  by  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,,  was  the  diffusion  of  di- 
vine truth  through  the  earth,  and  the  'preaching  of  the  gospel  to 
every  creature,'  through  the  instrumentality  of  united  effort  by 
the  church,  in  her  organized  capacity  ;  therefore,  whilst  this  Pres- 
bytery would  unfeignedly  rejoice  in  the  goodness  of  the  Lord, 
manifested  in  employing  the  instrumentality  of  others  to  send  sal-- 
vation  to  the  heathen,  at  the  same  time  earnest!}'  desirous  to  co- 
operate in  this  great  work,  to  fulfil,  at  least  in  part,  their  own  ob- 
ligation, and  to  answer  the  just  expectations  of  the  friends  of 
Christ  in  other  denominations,  and  in  other  countries,  in  obedience 
to  what  is  believed  to  be  the  command  of  Christ,  Presbytery 
hereby  declare  their  opinion  that  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  these 
United  States,  in  its  nature  and  constitution,  is  a  missionary  so- 
ciety, whose  object  is  to  aid  the  conversion  of  the  world  to  God  ; 
and  that  every  member  of  the  church  is  a  life  member  of  saidso- 
ciety,  bound  to  do  all  in  his  power  for  the  accomplishment  of  this 
object;  that  the  organization  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  is  such, 
that  the  General  Asseinbly  is  her  proper  organ  in  the  missionary 
work,  possessing  every  qualification,  and  affording  every  facility, 
for  its  successful  prosecution,  without  external  conflict  or  internal 
confusion;  that  the  act  of  the  majority  in  the  late  Assembly,  re- 
fusing to  ratify  the  adoption  of  the  VVestern  Board  of  Foreign 
Missions,  agreeably  to  an  arrangement  made  with  the  Synod  of 
Pittsburgh  by  the  preceding  General  Assembly,  manifests  a  want 
of  good  faith  with  that  body,  and  fidelity  in  observing  contracts; 
exhibits  a  want  of  kindness  to  the  large  and  respectable  minority 
in  that  General  Assembly,  and  to  the  multitudes  at  large  who 
loud'l'y  tanaintain  the  right  and  claim  the  privilege  of  conducting 
Foreign  Missions,  by  the  General  Assembly,  as  the  proper  organ. 


OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED.  181 

•'  V.  Resolved,  That  this  Presbytery  do  now  become,  and  de- 
clare themselves  to  be  auxiliary  to  the  Western  Board  of  Foreign 
Missions,  under  the  care  of  the  Synod  of  Pittsburgh,  and  recom- 
mend said  Board  to  the  liberal  patronage  of  the  churches  in  con- 
nexion with  this  Presbytery. 

.  "  VI.  Resolved,  That  this  Presbytery,  solemnly  considering  the 
distracted  and  increasingly  unhappy  condition  of  our  beloved 
church,  desire  to  designate,  as  the  basis  of  their  opinions,  here- 
with communicated,  some  of  the  principal  causes  to  which  the 
painful  and  threatening  evils  experienced  and  apprehended  in  the 
■church,  may,  and  must  justly,  be  traced. 

"First:  The  introduction  and  propagation  of  doctrines,  by 
ministers  in  our  connexion,  essentially  at  variance  with  our  sys- 
tem of  faith  and  with  the  word  of  God  ;  the  evidence  of  which  ex- 
ists in  numerous  sermons,  pamphlets,  and  papers,  issued  within 
our  bounds,  and  by  ministers  in  our  connexion ;  in  a  long  train  of 
legislative  and  judicial  actsof  successive  General  Assemblies,  and 
inferior  judicatories  ;  the  result  of  which  has  been  the  injury  of 
the  cause  of  truth,  by  sheltering  heretical  books  and  teachers,  and 
especially  in  the  extensive  diffusion  of  Mr.  Barnes'  unsound  publi- 
cations, which  have  recently  obtained  the  sanction  of  a  majority 
of  the  supreme  judicatory  of  our  church,  whose  annals  have  thus 
become  the  history,  and  whose  authority  the  safeguard  of  Arminian 
and  Pelagian  heresy. 

"Secondly:  The  unconstitutional  efforts  of  several  successive 
General  Assemblies  to  favour  the  introduction  of  false  doctrines  and 
to  screen  their  propagators,  by  authorizing  the  erection  of  Presby- 
teries on  the  principle  of 'elective  affinity,' which  is  repugnant 
both  to  the  letter  and  spirit  of  our  organization  and  government. 

"  Third  :  The  Assembly's  giving  their  sanction  to  tiiu  disorgan- 
izing assumptions  advanced  recently  in  an  elaborate  plea  before 
them,  that  candidates  may  and  of  right  ought  to  be  admitted  to 
the  holy  office,  materially  '  differing  in  opinion  from  our  known 
standards  in  doctrine,  worship,  and  government,'  on  the  ground 
of  scruples,  neither  avowed  by  themselves,  nor  sanctioned  by  ex- 
isting rule,  on  competent  authority;  that  the  Confession  of  Faith 
may  be  received  and  signed,  '  for  substance  of  doctrine,  or  for 
system,'  with  reservations. 

"  Fourth :  The  open  avowal,  by  the  majority  of  the  last  As- 
sembly, that  that  body  is  not  competent,  and  has  no  right  to  con- 
duct missionary  operations,  accompanying  this  declaration  with 
an  act  refusing  to  confirm  the  contract  of  a  previous  Assembly's 
committee,  for  the  transfer  of  the  Western  Foreign  Missionary 
Board,  thus  depriving  the  orthodox  body  of  the  privilege  of  serv- 
ing God  and  their  generation,  according  to  the  constitution  of  the 
church  and  the  dictates  of  their  own  hearts,  at  the  same  time  af- 


183  OLD    SCHOOL    VI\DICATED. 

fording  alarming  evidence  of  a  design  1o  supersede  the  boards 
and  inslitulions  of  our  church,  and  substitute  for  them,  and  im- 
pose upon  the  Presbyterian  body,  an  unconstitutional  and  ineffi- 
cient system.  This  Presbytery,  therefore,  do  in  the  fear  of  God, 
solemnly  declare  it  as  their  deliberate  judgment,  that  they  can 
see  no  prospect  of  our  being  able  to  accomplish  the  great  objects 
for  which  the  church  was  founded,  and  for  wliich  Christian  fel- 
lowship ought  to  be  cherished,  by  the  continuance  of  the  discor- 
dant parts  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  one  body. 

"Resolced,  That  the  foregoing  resolutions  be  printed  in  the 
Presbyterian,  and  New  York  Observer." 

Extract  from  the  Minutes  of  the  Presbytery  of  JVew  Brunsuich, 
at  Trenton,  October,  1837. 

"  The  committee  appointed  to  examine  the  printed  minutes  of 
the  last  General  Assembly,  brought  in  their  report,  which,  after 
amendment,  was  adopted,  and  is  as  follows,  viz: 

"That  although  in  ordinary  circumstances,  it  might  be  deemed 
unnecessary,  if  not  unsuitable,  for  Presbyteries  to  express  judg- 
ments on  the  proceedings  of  the  highest  judicatories  of  the  church, 
yet  as  the  doings  of  the  last  Assembly  have  been  made  the  sub- 
ject of  much  animadversion,  and  even  of  great  severity  of  cen- 
sure, on  the  part  of  some  other  Presbyteries,  it  may  be  due  to 
truth  and  justice  to  express  the  opinion  of  this  Presbytery  in  re- 
gard to  some  of  the  most  prominent  acts  of  that  body.  This  be- 
comes the  more  advisable,  because  the  expressed  opinions  of  the 
inferior  judicatories  may  furnish  an  important  indication  of  the 
course  most  proper  to  be  pursued  in  future.     Therefore, 

"I.  Resolved,  That  agreeably  to  the  judgment  expressed  by 
this  Presbytery,  at  its  stated  meeting  in  April  last,  the  Plan  of 
Union  adopted  by  the  General  Assembly  of  1801,  was  formed 
without  anv  legitimate  authority;  that  it  was  entirely  unconstitu- 
tional; that  its  operation  for  a  number  of  years  past,  has  been  in- 
jurious to  the  interests  of  the  Presbyterian  Churcli ;  and  that  the 
last  Assembly,  in  abrogating  that  Plan,  fulfilled  an  obvious  and 
important  duty  to  the  churches  under  its  care. 

"  II.  Resolved,  That  although  we  respect  and  love  the  Congre- 
gational Churches,  and  desire  to  maintain  Christian  intercourse 
with  them,  yet  in  the  judgment  of  this  Presbytery,  the  incorpora- 
ting of  churches  formed  on  Congregational  principles  with  the 
Presbyterian  Church,  was  an  unnatural  union,  which  could  not 
fail  of  interfering  with  the  orderly  and  comfortable  operation  of 
our  system,  and  ought  to  be  regarded  as  such,  at  whatever  time, 
or  by  whatever  means,  it  was  formed,  and  which  ought  by  no 
means  to  bo  continued. 

"III.  Resolved,  That  upon  the  principles  of  the  preceding  reso- 
lutions, the  Svnod  of  the  Western  Reserve  never  had  any  consti- 


OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED.  183 

tutional  connexion  with  the  Presbyterian  Church ;  and  therefore, 
that  the  General  Assembly,  in  declaring  said  Synod  no  longer 
connected  with  our  body,  formed  a  decision  equally  just  and  con- 
formable to  the  spirit  of  our  form  of  government. 

"IV.  Resolved,  That  in  the  judgment  of  this  Presbytery,  the 
act  of  the  General  Assembly,  declaring  the  Synod  of  Utica,  Ge- 
neva, and  Genesee  to  be  no  longer  connected  with  our  body,  was 
equally  just  and  proper  with  the  act  of  the  Assembly  in  the  case 
of  the  Western  Reserve;  for  whether  the  said  three  Synods  de- 
rived their  origin  from  the  Plan  of  Union  of  1801,  as  many  of 
their  churches  doubtless  did,  or,  as  has  been  alleged,  chiefly  from 
the  act  of  the  Assembly  of  180S,  by  which  two  large  bodies  of 
Con^refjational  ministers  and  churches  were  r-eceived,  retaining 
iheir  Congregational  character  as  constituent  parts  of  the  then 
Synod  of  Albany,  they  cannot  be  considered  as  occupying,  on 
account  of  this  alleged  origin,  any  more  favourable  ground  than 
the  Synod  of  Western  Reserve.  On  the  contrary,  the  act  of 
1808,  being  a  still  more  palpable  and  extraordinary  violation  of 
our  ecclesiastical  constilution,  than  even  the  plan  of  1801,  the 
former  furnishes  a  basis  even  less  tenable  than  the  latter,  for  the 
support  of  a  Presbyterian  body.  To  which  may  be  added  the 
notorious  fact,  that  a  large  number  of  the  churches  and  ministers 
composing  the  said  Synod,  were  not  only  Congregational  when 
first  irregularly  introduced  into  the  Presbyterian  Church,  but  still 
retain  that  form  of  government. 

"  V.  Rfsohed,  That  in  the  judgment  of  this  Presbytery,  the  de- 
rision of  the  General  Assembly,  in  declaring  that  the  four  Synods 
disowned,  never  had  been  constitutionally  united  with  the  Pres- 
byterian Church,  and  cannot  now  be  considered  as  connected 
with  our  body,  ought  by  no  means,  to  be  rescinded,  nor  any  part 
of  those  Synods  to  be  restored  to  membership  with  the  General 
Assembly,  in  any  other  way  than  that  pointed  out  by  the  Assem- 
bly, on  page  445  of  its  printed  minutes,  viz.  *  By  any  Presbytery, 
if  such  there  be,  strictly  Presbyterian  in  doctrine  and  order,  and 
by  any  individual  churches  and  ministers  of  like  character,  sepa- 
rating themselves  from  their  Congregational  neighbours  and  mak- 
ing application,  with  proper  evidence  of  their  character  and 
wishes,  as  the  case  may  be,  either  to  the  next  General  Assembly, 
or  to  some  convenient  Presbytery  or  Synod,  authorized  to  take 
order  thereon.' " 


284  OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICA'PED. 


CHAPTER   XIII. 

The  danger  of  having  Literary  Journals  connected  with  Theological  Semi- 
naries— General  character  and  influence  of  the  Assembly  of  1834 — Public 
sentiment — Controversy  between  the  General  Assembly  and  the  Home 
Missionary  and  Presbyterian  Education  Societies — Dr.  J.  L.  Wilson's 
four  propositions. 

A  serious  impression  had  occupied  many  minds  a  long  time, 
that  while  much  good  might  be  anticipated  jVom  the  Repertory,* 
published  at  Princeton,  under  patronage  of  the  Seminary,  and  as 
its  organ,  that,  managed  as  it  has  been,  some  corresponding  evils 
might  spring  from  the  same  source.  A  few  years  past,  some 
good  men  think,  have  in  part  realized  these  apprehensions.  It  is 
possible,  by  slow  degrees,  and  without  design,  even  with  a  view 
of  extended  usefulness,  to  invert  the  natural  order,  and  even  the 
studied  arrangement  of  things,  so  far  as  to  make  the  power  which 
was  intended  to  be  subordinate,  become  not  only  co-ordinate,  but 
supreme;  or,  at  least,  to  exhibit  quite  serious  advances  towards 
accomplishing  this  inversion. 

And  here,  to  guard  against  misapprehension  of  the  following 
incidental  remarks,  let  it  be  observed,  that  there  is  a  tendency 
around  all  literary  institutions  to  concentrate  talent  and  influence, 
by  many  instrumentalities.  Theological  institutions  are  by  no 
means  exempt  from  these  unavoidable  or  contingent  susceptibili- 
ties. Place  a  man  of  intellectual  vigor  and  moral  worth  where 
you  please,  and  employ  him  as  you  choose,  he  becomes  a  centre 
of  attraction  and  influence.  A  pastor  of  a  church,  of  intelligence 
and  sound  discretion,  may,  in  a  few  years,  make  himself  a  little 
monarch  among  the  people  of  his  charge,  and  to  some  extent 
around.  This  shows,  among  other  things,  the  importance  of  per- 
manence in  the  pastoral  relation. 

A  theological  professor  of  ordinary  merit,  grows  naturally  and 
certainly  into  great  influence  and  authority,  and  it  is  desirable,  to 
■a  considerable  extent,  that  he  should.  As  his  acquaintance  through 
the  church  extends,  his  character,  his  appropriate  literature  and 
'labours,  become  better  and  better  known  and  appreciated;  his 
pupils  multiply  and  scatter  through  the  church,  and  over  the  land, 
proclaiming  his  worth  and  his  praises,  which  is  right,  widely 
among  the  masses.  The  professor  derives,  of  course,  great  ac- 
cessions of  credit  and  power,  i'rom  all  these  universally  pervading 
channels  of  influence,  as  a  scholar,  a  gentleman,  a  sage,  a  saint,  an 
orator,  a  philosopher,  a  critic,  &c.,  &c.   All  very  well  for  the  good 

■*  It  appears  from  "  Alexander's  Life,"  that  Dr.  Ilodge  was,  from  the  be- 
ginning, the  Editor  of  that  publication. 


OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED.  1S5 

of  the  institution,  and,  perhaps,  of  the  man  ;  for  practical  purposes, 
fictitious  capital  is  often  as  good  as  real. 

While  the  above  process  has  been  proceeding,  and  these  lite- 
rary efforts  or  interests  have  been  successfully  advancing,  the 
professor,  of  course,  begins  to  extend  the  range  of  his  views  with 
the  estimate  of  his  powers,  and  sometimes  comes  to  the  conclu- 
sion that  nothing  is  so  sacred  or  so  elevated,  as  to  be  placed  be- 
yond his  reach.  Thus  he  gradually  forgets,  or  transcends  his 
proper  sphere,  and  this  is  the  charge  that  has  been  brought 
against  the  Repertory.  For  some  time,  the  suggestion  that  this 
excellent  journal  has  not  confined  itself  strictly,  perhaps,  within 
its  proper  limits,  but  systematically,  and  without  any  justifiable 
motive  or  useful  result,  criticised  and  condemned  the  solemn  acts 
and  adjudications  of  the  General  Assembly  as  the  supreme  guar- 
dian of  the  Presbyterian  Church. 

Now,  when  it  is  considered  that  this  seminary  belongs  to  the 
General  Assembly,  is  under  its  constant  supervision  and  control, 
that  the  professors  of  the  institution  were  appointed  by  her,  are  de- 
pendent upon  her,  in  ail  things  amenable  to  her,  have  been  instructed 
by  her  as  to  every  prominent  and  important  act,  is  it  wonderful  that 
the  question  should  be  asked,  in  good  earnest  and  great  kindness, 
"  Shall  the  church  control  the  seminaries,  or  the  seminaries  control 
the  church  ?"  Suppose,  for  a  moment,  that  the  seminaries,  north, 
south,  east,  and  west,  and  many  others  as  is  probable  will  be 
created,  to  the  number  of  scores,  so  far  as  we  can  see  ahead, 
and  each  possess  its  learned  and  ambitious  faculty,  its  literary 
and  theological  journal,  taking  annually  the  same  liberty  to  criti- 
cise, dissect,  reverse,  condemn,  the  laboured  and  solemn  opinions, 
instructions,  and  decisions,  sent  out  to  the  church  by  her  sovereign 
authority,  through  the  land — can  harmony  be  rationally  antici- 
pated among  these  rival  institutions,  or  the  General  Assembly  be 
reverently  regarded  as  the  bond  of  union  and  peace  in  the  I'res- 
byterian  body?  Is  there  not  reason  to  fear  that  battles  of 
books,  of  journals,  of  critics,  of  professors,  of  theories  and  specu- 
lations, of  doctrines  and  governments,  of  l)aptisms  and  rites,  of 
forms  and  modes,  may  spring  up  and  greatly  annoy  the  church? 
Who  can  foresee  what  conflicts  between  rival  seminaries,  jealousies 
between  sectional  districts,  ecclesiastical  functionaries,  and  various 
powers  and  interests,  may  start  into  being?  Competition  will  arise, 
in  criticising  the  measures  of  the  Assembly,  in  testing  her  deci- 
sions, correcting  her  errors,  reproving  her  neglects,  or  commend- 
ing her  zeal  and  fidelity;  all  originating  in  the  Repertories  within 
her  bosom,  and  to  be  referred  to  the  ambition,  arrogance,  or  pre- 
sumption and  folly,  of  the  editors  or  contributors  to  these  theo- 
logical journals.  Will  such  exhibitions  tend  to  establish  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly  in  her  constitutional  power,  her  calm  and  temperate 


186  OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED. 

mode  of  action  ?  to  confirm  and  perpetuate  our  noble  ecclesiasti- 
cal system  in  all  its  peculiar  and  salutary  principles  and  rules? 
or  will  it  not  rather  contribute  to  render  our  supreme  council  a 
timid,  feeble,  vacillating,  and  inefficacious  machine,  either  exer- 
cising tyrannical  power,  or  unduly  yielding  to  the  paramount  in- 
fluence of  some  monthly  or  quarterly  within  her  own  limits,  more 
popular  and  formidable  than  others,  in  this  unnatural  and  unwar- 
rantable crusade  against  the  mother  of  us  all? 

Besides,  it  is  a  very  grave  and  important  question,  what  is  to 
be  the  probable  influence  of  this  state  of  things,  in  progress  of 
years,  upon  the  real  character  of  didactic  and  polemic  theology, 
and  kindred  topics,  through  the  Presbyterian  Church,  and  our 
country  at  large.  The  general  character  of  the  age  we  live  in, 
and  of  the  land  we  inhabit,  the  constitution,  the  habits,  and  ruling 
passions  of  our  increasing  population,  are  evidently  favourable  to 
progress,  invention,  novelty.  That  old  systems  of  truth  and  or- 
der hiive  grown  stale  with  time,  is  the  remark  frequently  made: 
their  foundations  must  be  broken  up,  and  new  theories  and  specu- 
lations, often  at  the  expense  of  truth,  built  upon  them.  The  mind 
of  inuliitudes  of  men,  in  church  as  well  as  state,  possessing  ge- 
nius, talent,  and  learning,  have  become  restless  and  impatient  un- 
der the  hitherto  dominant  and  salutary  restrictions  of  literary 
taste  and  theological  authority.  There  is  a  general  relaxation  of 
obligation  and  respect  fjr  the  established  and  venerated  standards 
of  truth,  now  visibl-e  through  the  whole  of  society,  in  every  de- 
partment of  science,  of  philosophy,  and  of  morals  and  religion. 

Now,  if  the  channels  of  inquiry,  discussion,  and  criticism,  of 
theory  and  speculation  on  sacred  topics,  are  thrown  widely  open, 
as  at  present,  and  if  the  spirit  of  competition,  thirst  for  distinction 
or  pre-eminence,  and  the  desire  of  developing  new  systems, 
schemes,  and  shades  of  truth,  be  prompted  by  Ir.ige  facilities  and 
license,  to  engnge  in  this  ambitious  rivalry  bciween  the  organs 
and  professors  of  co-ordinate  institutions,  whose  characters,  num- 
ber of  students,  strength  and  resouices,  standing  find  influence, 
are  all  to  be  graduated  by  the  result  of  this  contest,  who  can  an- 
ticipate justly  the  effects  likely  to  spring  from  these  conflicts? 
Can  utiiformity,  harmony,  happy  union  and  success,  be  rationally 
expected  long  to  prevail  in  the  great  Presbyterian  body,  when 
competitions,  jealousies,  and  animosities,  are  every  where  actively 
at  work?  The  truth  is,  our  seminaries,  if  possible,  should  be  kept 
out  of  this  vortex.  Some  have  long  maintained,  at  least  in  private 
circles,  that  even  the  professors  of  our  seminaries  should  have  ex- 
tremely little,  if  any  tiling,  to  do  with  ecclesiastical  legislation,  or 
the  action  of  the  General  Assembly.  It  has  always  appeared  as 
a  matter,  the  propriety  of  which  might  be  well  contested,  the  fre- 
quent attendance  of  professors  at  the  sessions  of  the  General  As- 


OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED.  187 

sembly,  entering  warnnly  into  all  her  measures,  her  debates,  con- 
troversies, her  appeals,  and  agitations,  whether  of  public  or  private 
interest.  And  we  are  greatly  strengthened  in  this  impression,  by 
the  opinion  of  at  least  one  of  the  venerable  professors,  who  has, 
we  doubt  not,  by  order  of  the  Master  of  all  assemblies,  left  his 
chair  at  Princeton  vacant  recently,  to  go  up  higher,  even  to  the 
General  Assennbiy  of  the  first  born. 

It  cannot  be  doubted,  that  the  system  of  fheoiogicr.j  education 
and  training,  upon  which  the  church  is  relying  to  sustain  her  mul- 
tiplying exigencies  and  expanding  entei-prise,  must  undergo  a  con- 
siderable change;  from  the  vastness  of  our  national  territory,  and 
widening  of  the  missionary  field  at  home  and  abroad,  it  is  evident 
there  must  be  a  proportionate  extension  of  educational  means, 
and  multiplication  of  theological  institutions.  The  restless  and 
enterprising  spirit  of  the  age  we  live  in,  and  the  very  air  we 
breathe,  will  engender  elements  of  difficulty  profusely,  and  cast 
dangers  into  the  bosoms  of  these  seminaties.  It  will  be  no  easy, 
no  unimportant  work,  to  place  them,  and  to  maintain  them  un- 
der salutary  control,  a  control  and  discipline  as  much  needed, 
and  perhaps  more,  by  the  faculties  and  professors,  as  by  the  stu- 
dents. From  secular,  mere  literary  institutions,  we  may  infer 
something  in  regard  to  theological.  Now  is  the  time  to  settle 
principles,  ascertain  limits,  fix  laws,  form  habits,  on  this  great 
and  conimanding  subject,  which,  if  neglected  now,  may  rend  the 
church,  and  prove  disastrous  to  the  great  moral  and  religious  in- 
terests of  this  western  world.  Prove  all  things — hold  fast  that 
which  is  good. 

In  regard  to  the  general  character  and  influence  of  the  Assem- 
bly of  1834,  the  spectators  who  then  gave  their  attendance  and 
pronounced  their  opinion,  and  multitudes  in  and  out  of  the  church, 
who  have  since  observed  the  result  of  that  long  and  solemn  meet- 
ing, have  not  hesitated  to  declare  their  honest  conviction,  that 
through  the  influence  of  Divine  Providence,  it  was  more  than  any 
other  specific  instrumentality  employed,  the  effective  means  of  pro- 
ducing that  happy  expurgation  of  the  Presbyterian  family,  which 
was  consummated  in  1837.  l(  the  New  School  triumph  in  the  As- 
sembly of  1834  was  evil,  it  was  short.  In  the  Assembly  of  1835, 
which  met  at  Pittsburgh,  the  convention  invited  by  the  Act  and  Tes- 
limonv,  so  efiectually  restrained  the  power  of  the  New  School, 
that  they  obtained  no  signal  victory  in  that  Assembly,  but  were 
checked  in  their  progress,  and  cast  into  such  a  position  as  very 
speedily  led  to  their  entire  ejection  from  the  cliurch.  The  so 
much  abused  minority  of  1834,  and  their  momentous  Jet  and 
Testimony,  were  the  principal  means  of  bringing  deliverance  and 
trium[)h. 

A  controv^ersy  between  the  General  x\ssembly,  by  her  consti- 


188  OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED. 

tuted  Missionary  Boards,  and  the  Annerican  Home  Missionary 
Society,  and  the  Presbyterian  Education  Society,  for  supremacy 
and  exclusiveness  in  the  management  of  their  business  within  tlie 
bounds  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  had  been  progressing  for  se- 
veral years  with  increasing  warmth.  These  societies  had  no 
sanction  for  existence  and  operation  within  the  Hmits  of  the  Pres- 
byterian body  ;  neither  were  they  at  all  responsible  to  the  Assem- 
bly for  their  conduct.  They  were  called  voluntary  societies, 
because  they  claimed  perfect  independence  of  all  control,  and  as- 
sumed the  right  of  acting  according  to  their  own  sovereign  plea- 
sure, in  opposition  to  the  boards  of  the  church,  in  concert  with 
spurious  Presbyteries,  who  were  ensraged  in  training,  ^licensing, 
and  ordaining  young  men,  unsound  in  the  faith,  to  be  located  and 
employed  by  these  voluntary  societies  at  pleasure,  through  the 
wide  expanse  of  the  Presbyterian  field,  to  propagate  their  tieresies, 
promote  disorder,  and  sow  the  seeds  of  Congregationalism  through 
the  churches.  To  expose  and  impair  this  infecting  system  of 
operation,  about  this  period,  {1832.)  Dr.  Joshua  L.  Wilson,  of 
(vincinnati,  who  may  justly  be  styled  the  father  o{  Presbyterian- 
ism  in  the  West,  a  man  of  decided  talents,  purity,  power,  and  ur>- 
tiring  zeal  in  the  cause  of  truth,  attempted  to  establish  against  the 
voluntary  societies,  the  four  folluwing  propositions,  viz^ 

"  I.  The  Lord  Jesus  Christ  has  committed  the  management  of 
Christian  missions  to  his  church. 

"JI.  The  Presbyterian  Church,  being  one  great  family  of  the 
church  of  Jesus  Christ,  is  by  her  f)rm  of  government,  organized 
into  a  Christian  Missionary  Society. 

"III.  The  American  Home  Missionary  Society  is  not  an  ec- 
clesiastical, but  a  civil  institution. 

"IV.  By  interference  and  importunity,  she  dist-urbs  the  peace, 
and  injures  the  prosperity,  of  the  Presbyterian  Church." 

A  convention  from  twenty  Presbyteries  met  in  Cincinnati  in 
the  month  of  November  next  ensuing,  A  majority  of  the  conven- 
tion decided  against  "a  united  agency  of  Home  Missions  for  the 
VVest,"  and  in  "  favour  of  the  General  Assembly's  mode  of  con- 
ducting missions."  Of  this  decision,  the  minority  complained. 
They  published  a  report  to  the  Presbyteries  in  the  valley  of  the 
Mississippi,  in  which  they  say  that  the  "  Synod  of  Pittsburgh  had 
a  controlling  influence  in  the  convention;"  "that  the  votes  of  that 
Synod  carried  every  question."  They  also  complained,  that  the 
"  ollicial  influence  of  the  Board  of  Missions  was  employed  to  pre- 
vent union  in  the  West." 

Mr.  Judd's  account  of  the  effect  of  these  measures  is  amusing,  viz  : 

"  This  determined  opposition  to  the  American  Home  Missionary 
Society,  (Judd,  p.  100,)  hastened  the  general  controversy  respect- 
ing the  most  eligible  method  of  conducting  the  various  benevolent 


OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED.  189 

operations  of  the  church.  Most  who  were  in  favour  of  conduct- 
ing them  by  boards  especially  of  the  General  Assembly,  became 
more  decided  and  zealous  in  support  of  their  peculiar  policy,  and 
increasingly  hostile  to  the  operations  within  the  bounds  of  the 
Presbyteiian  Church,  of  societies  organized  and  conducted  upon 
the  voluntary  principle.  The  advocates  for  conducting  all  the 
•benevolent  operations  of  the  church  by  boards  under  ecclesiasti- 
cal supervision,  increased  in  number,  and  their  policy  became 
more  and  more  exclusive  and  intolerant..  Hence  those  who  were 
from  principle,'**  {Congregationalisls,  i.  e.  New  School  men,)  "  in 
favour  of  voluntary  societies, were  laid  under  the  necessity  of 
abandoning  their  conscientious  preferences,  or  of  defending  them. 
A  sense  of  duty  constrained  them  to  adopt  the  latter  course."' 
The  following  twenty  pages  of  Mr.  Judd's  volume  are  employed 
in  detailing  the  disgraceful  and  disgusting  contest  into  which  the 
voluntary  societies  had  compelled  the  Assembly  to  engage,  to  ex- 
clude these  voluntary  intermeddlers  from  their  Presbyteries  and 
congregations,  and  to  prevent,  if  possible,  their  constant  inter- 
ference with  all  the  business  of  the  church.  It  is  really  amusing 
to  see  Mr.  Judd,  in  the  midst  of  his  tirade  against  the  Assembly, 
for  not  tolerating  the  gross  New  School  innovations  and  assaults 
upon  Presbyterian  order,  in  connexion  with,  missions,  writing 
about  "conscientious  preferences,"  "being  laid  under  the  neces- 
sity of  defending  them."  What  secret  or  open  power,  argument, 
or  influence,  could  possibly  justify  their  hostile  and  rapacious  acts 
against  the  Presbyterian  Church?  It  was  their  own  deliberate, 
voluntary,  self-moving  preference  for  New  England  men  and 
ineasures.  They  came  in  among  us,  but  they  were  not  of  us. 
Their  hearts,  their  affections,  their  aims,  their  efforts,  were  all 
directed  to  New  England.  They  hated  the  Presbyterian  Church, 
and  they  intended  and  laboured  hard  to  destroy  it.  By  their 
fruits,  ye  shall  know  them..  But  they  have  failed,  and  we  gire 
tiianks  to  God  for  the  deliverance.. 


CHAPTER    XIV. 

Convention  called  to  meet  in  Pittsburgh,  by  Act  and  Testimony — Their 
action— Memorial . 

The  convention  called  by  the  s-ignersof  the  Act  and  Testimony, 
together  with  the  minority  of  the  last  General  Assembly,  and 

*  This  admission,  of  itself,  is  sufficient  to  condemn  the  whole  course  of 
the  New  School  party. 


190  OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED. 

Others,  in  May,  1834,  met  in  the  Second  Presbyterian  Chctrch  of 
Pittsburgh,  on  the  14lh  ot'  May,  1835.  The  Rev.  John  Wither- 
spoon  was  called  tu  the  chair,  and  Rev.  I.  V.  Brown  and  the 
Rev.  Thi)mas  Alexander,  were  appointed  secretaries  pro  tern. 
The  convention  was  opened  by  prayer,  about  fifty  delegates  being 
present,  which  number  was  increased  by  additions  at  subsequent 
meetings.  The  Rev.  Dr.  Ashbel  Green  was  elected  president,  and 
look  his  seat  accordingly.  The  convention  appointed  and  ob- 
served the  18th  inst.,  as  a  day  of  fasting,  humiliation,  and  prayer, 
with  special  reference  to  the  objects  for  which  they  assembled. 

The  committee,  previously  appointed  for  the  purpose,  on  the 
manner  of  addressing  the  General  Assembly,  reported :  1.  That 
the  only  expedient  form  is  that  of  respectful  memorial  and  peti- 
tion. 2.  That  a  committee  be  appointed  to  prepare  such  memo- 
rial, when  the  convention  shall  have  decided  the  points  to  be 
embodied  therein. 

The  great  object  contemplated  in  calling  the  convention  was 
not  less  appropriate  than  important,  that  of  collecting  informa- 
tion on  the  state  of  the  church,  through  all  the  channels  and 
from  all  the  sources  which  might  be  laid  open  at  the  meeting, 
and  presenting  that  intelligence  to  the  Assembly,  with  a  memo- 
rial based  upon  it,  suggesting  some  principal  measures  required 
to  terminate  or  diminish  the  evils  prevalent  in  the  churclies.  If 
wrong  information  had  been  received,  and  thereby  wrong  im- 
pressions made,  it  was  esteemed  very  desirable  to  correct  these 
errors,  and  this  meeting  appeared  well  calculated  to  afford  the 
means.  On  the  other  hand,  if  the  truth  had  been  only  partially 
reported,  and  that  small  portion  very  iniperfectly  circulated,  this 
meeting  furnished  a  well  adapted  remedy.  The  memorial  ad- 
dressed to  the  Assembly  was  their  principal  measure,  and,  in 
substance,  appears  in  the  minutes  of  that  Assembly,  The  con- 
vention passed  several  resolutions,  having  a  direct  and  salutary 
bearing  upon  the  condition  of  the  church,  vi^hich  we  shall  insert 
without  comment. 

In  connexion  with  the  memorial  from  the  minority  of  the 
Cincinnati  Presbytery,  on  the  state  of  the  church  in  Western 
Ohio,  the  convention  resolved: 

"  1.  That  the  operation  of  any  missionary  society  within  the 
Presbyterian  Church,  and  not  responsible  to  her  judicatories,  is 
an  infringement  of  her  rights,  and  inconsistetit  with  her  integrity 
and  peace. 

"  2.  That  the  operation  of  any  education  society  within  the 
bounds  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  for  the  training  of  her  min- 
istry, independent  of  her  ecclesiastical  judicatories,  is  a  usurpa- 
tion of  the  rights  of  the  church,  and  ought  to  be  resisted,  as 


OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED.  ISt 

tending  to  iiudermine  her  own  education  board,  and  the  inde- 
pendence of  her  ministry. 

^^  Resoloed,  That  the  subjects  contained  in  the  above  resolu- 
tions be  referred  to  the  committee  on  addressing  the  Assemblj% 

"  Resolved,  Tiiat  the  committee  appointed  to  draft  a  memorial 
to  the  assembly,  make  such  a  statement  relative  to  tlie  forma- 
tion of  ecclesiastical  judicatories,  on  what  has  been  called  the 
principle  of 'elective  affinity,'  as  shall  express  the  disapproba- 
tion of  this  convention,  of  all  action  on  that  principle,  by  any 
judicatory  of  this  cburch,  and  our  desire,  that  the  evils  which 
have  already  been  produced,  by  acting  on  said  principle,  may 
be  redressed. 

'^Resolved  also,  That  the  right  of  examining,  and  after  exami-, 
nation  of  receiving,  or  refusing  to  receive,  any  minister,  licen- 
tiate or  candidate,  whether  from  foreign  bodies  or  from  Presby- 
teries of  our  own  church,  however  sustained  by  credential,  is 
inherent  in  every  Presbytery,  and  is  essential  to  its  well-being. 

"  Resolved,  That  the  subject  of  doctrinal  errors,  existitig  in  th» 
Presbyterian  Church,  and  also,  that  of  the  repeal  of  the  resolu- 
tion of  the  last  General  Assembly,  touching  the  right  of  judica- 
tories, to  try  and  condemn  heretical  publications,  be  also  re- 
ferred to  said  committee  as  proper  to  be  inserted  in  the  memo- 
rial." 

Sundry  other  resolutions  contempleting  the  same  object,  we 
omit  the  insertion  of,  to  secure  space  for  the  following  highly 
important  and  impressive  resolve: 

"  Resolved,  That  the  conmiittee  on  the  memorial  be  instruct- 
ed to  present  to  the  General  Assembly,  thn,  solemn  conviction 
of  this  convention ;  that  the  Presbyterian  Church  owes  it  as  a 
sacred  duty  to  her  glorified  Head,  to  yield  a  far  more  exempla- 
ry obedience,  and  that  in  her  distinctive  character  as  a  church, 
to  tht;  command  which  he  gave  at  liis  ascension  into  Heaven — 
'go  ye  into  all  the  world  and  preach  the  gospel  to  every  crea- 
ture.' It  is  believed  to  be  among  the  causes  of  the  frowns  of 
the  great  head  of  the  church,  which  are  now  resting  upon  our 
beloved  zion,  in  the  declension  of  vital  piety  and  the  disorders 
and  divisions  that  distract  us,  that  we  have  done  so  little,  com- 
paratively nothing,  in  our  distinctive  character  as  a  church  of 
Christ,  to  send  the  gospel  to  the  heathens,  the  Jews  and  the 
Mahommedans,  It  is  regarded  as  of  vital  importance  to  tha 
welfare  of  our  church,  that  foreign  as  well  as  domestic  missions, 
should  be  more  zealously  prosecuted  and  more  liberally  patron- 
ized, and  that  as  a  nucleus  of  foreign  missionary  etfort  and 
operation,  'The  Western  Foreign  Missionary  Society  should 
receive  the  countenance,  as  it  appears  to  us  to  merit  the  conii- 


192  OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED. 

dence  of  those  who  cherish  an  attachment  to  the  doctrine  and 
order  of  the  church  to  which  we  belong."  ' 

After  some  discussion,  th-e  above  document  was  committed 
to  Rev.  Messrs.  BIythe,  Cuyler  and  Witherspoon,  with  instruc- 
tions to  present  it  to  the  notice  of  the  General  Assembly,  in 
whatever  way  was  deemed  best. 

As  closely  connected  with  the  object  in  view,  the  convention 
unanimously  passed  the  following  resolutions: 

"  1.  That  the  thanks  of  this  house  be  given  to  those  editors  of 
religious  papers  who,  by  giving  publicity  to  '  The  Act  and  Tes- 
limonj/,'  and  other  documents  connected  with  the  same,  have 
contributed  to  the  furtherance  of  the  views  of  this  convention, 
in  reference  to  the  much  desired  reform  in  the  church. 

"  2.  That  this  convention  are  deeply  impressed  with  the  con- 
viction, that  the  Act  and  Testimony  prepared  by  some  of  tlie 
minority  of  the  last  General  Assemby,  in  connexion  with  other 
brethren,  and  since  that  time  so  extensively  adopted,  has  been 
under  the  smiles  and  blessings  of  God,  of  marked  and  extensive 
benefit  to  our  beloved  churclL 

"  3.  That  we  recognize  our  obligations  in  the  most  lively 
gratitude  to  God,  for  the  care  of  providence  in  bringing  togeth-  • 
er  the  members  of  the  convention,  in  health  and  safety,  and  in 
an  especial  manner  for  uniting  us  together  in  the  most  harmo- 
nious accord  in  all  the  measures  that  have  been  discussed  and 
adopted." 

After  passing  these  acts,  and  spending  some  time  in  prayer 
and  praise  to  God,  the  apostolic  benediction  was  pronounced, 
and  the  president  declared  the  convention  finally  dissolved. 

Having  already  stated  with  sufficient  fulness  and  clearness, 
most  of  the  prominent  points  which  were  referred  to  the  com- 
mittee to  draft  the  memorial,  with  powers  and  instructions,  we 
refer  the  reader  to  the  act  of  the  General  Assembly  on  the  me- 
morial, which  exhibits  that  document  without  any  material 
change. 


CHAPTER    XV. 

Oeneral  Assembly  in  Pittsburg,  May,  1835 — Memorial  received  from  the 
Convention — Resolutions  accompanying  and  based  upon  it. 

In  the  General  Assembly  which  met  in  the  first  Presbyterian 
Church, of  Pittsburgh,  on  the  2lst  of  May,  1835,  the  Rev.  Wm. 
W.  Phillips,  D.  D ,  was  chosen  Moderator. 


OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED.  195 

The  following  record  embraces,  substantially,  the  memorial 
presented  to  the  General  Assembly,  by  the  convention,  ati 
account  of  which  precedes. 

"The  committee  to  whom  was  referred  the  memorial  and 
petition  of  a  number  of  ministers  and  ruling  elders  of  the  Pres- 
byterian Church,  and  certain  other  papers  relating  to  the  same 
or  kindred  subjects,  beg  leave  to  report — that  they  have  en- 
deavoured to  deliberate  on  the  said  memorial  and  petition,  and 
other  papers  committed  to  them,  with  all  that  respect  which 
the  character  of  those  from  whom  they  come,  could  not  fail  to 
inspire;  and  with  all  the  calmness,  impartiality  and  solemnity, 
which  the  deep  importance  of  the  subjects  on  which  they  have 
addressed  the  Assembly,  so  manifestly  demands. 

"In  approaching  the  consideration  of  these  weighty  subjects, 
the  committee  deemed  it  to  be  an  obvious  duty,  to  exclude 
from  their  views  all  those  principles  which  result  from  the 
wishes  or  plans  of  diiferent  parties  in  the  church,  and  to  take 
for  their  guide,  simply  the  word  of  God,  which  we  consider  the 
only  infallible  rule  of  faith  and  practice  ;  and  those  public  for- 
mularies, by  which  we  have  solemnly  agreed  and  stipulated 
with  each  other,  to  be  governed  in  all  our  proceedings.  The 
moment  we  depart  from  these,  we  are  not  only  exposed  to  all 
the  evils  of  discord,  but  also  run  the  risk  of  destroying  those 
bonds  of  union  by  which  we  have  been  so  long  bound  together 
as  an  ecclesiastical  body.  There  is  certainly  no  portion  of  the 
visible  church,  in  which  a  harmonious  accordance  with  the 
same  adopted  formularies,  and  a  uniform  submission  to  the 
same  rules  of  truth  and  order,  are  so  essential  to  the  mainte- 
nance of  ecclesiastical  peace  and  to  cordial  co-operation,  in  pro- 
moting the  great  purposes  for  which  the  church  was  founded, 
by  her  king  and  head,  as  among  the  churches  of  our  denomi- 
nation. The  committee,  indeed,  by  no  means  expect,,  and  do 
not  suppose,  that  the  Assembly  would  think  of  enforcing  that 
perfect  agreement  of  views  in  every  minute  particular  which, 
in  a  body  so  extended  as  the  Presbyterian  Church,  has  perhaps 
never  been  realized.  But  that  an  entire  and  cordial  agreement 
in  all  the  radical  principles  of  that  system  of  truth  and  order,, 
which  is  taught  in  the  Holy  Scriptures — which  is  embodied  in 
our  confessions  of  faith  and  form  of  government,  and  which 
every  minister  and  elder  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  has  solemn- 
ly subscribed  and  promised  to  maintain,  may  not  only  be  rea- 
sonably expected, but  must  be,  as  far  as  possible,  secured,  if  we 
would  maintain  the  '  unity  of  the  spirit,'  in  the  bonds  of  peace 
and  love.  This,  it  is  presumed,  the  General  Assembly  will  be 
unanimous  in  pronouncing.  If  this  be  not  so,  it  is  in  vain  that 
we  assemble  from  year  to  year ;  in  vain  that  we  hope  for  in* 


194  OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED. 

tercourse,  either  pleasant  or  edifying.  Our  judicatories  musl 
be  scenes  of  discord  and  conflict,  and  the  ties  which  bind  the 
several  parts  of  our  extended  body  to  each  other,  can  scarcely 
fail  of  being  ties  to  strife  and  contention. 

"Under  convictions  which  these  general  principles  are  adapted 
to  impress,  the  committee  most  deeply  feel  the  importance  of 
some  of  the  conclusions  to  which  they  are  constrained  to  come  ; 
and  although  some  of  these  conclusions  are  at  variance  with 
several  acts  of  the  last  General  Assembly,  yet  they  cannot  doubt 
that  they  make  an  essential  part  of  the  Presbyterian  system, 
and  of  course  cannot  be  abandoned,  without  seriously  endan- 
gering both  the  comfort  and  the  safety  of  our  beloved  church. 

"  The  committee,  therefore,  as  the  result  of  their  deliberations 
on  the  documents  committed  to  them,  would  most  respectfully 
recommend  to  the  Assembly  the  adoption  of  the  following  reso- 
lutions, viz  : 

"I.  Resolved,  That  in  the  judgment  of  this  General  Assem- 
bly, it  is  the  right  of  every  Presbytery,  to  be  entirely  satisfied 
of  the  soundness  in  the  faith,  and  the  good  cliaracter  in  every 
respect,  of  those  ministers  who  apply  to  be  admitted  into  the 
Presbytery  as  members,  and  who  bring  testimonials  of  good 
standing  from  sister  Presbyteries,  or  from  foreign  bodies,  with 
whom  the  Presbyterian  Church  is  in  correspondence ;  and  if 
there  be  any  reasonable  doubt  respecting  the  proper  qualifica- 
tions of  such  candidates,  notwithstanding  their  testimonials,  it 
is  the  right,  and  may  be  the  duty  of  such  Presbytery  to  exam- 
ine them,  or  to  take  such  other  methods  of  being  satisfied  in  re- 
gard to  their  suitable  character,  as  may  be  judged  proper;  and 
if  such  satisfaction  be  not  obtained,  to  decline  receiving  them. 
In  such  case,  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  Presbytery  rejecting  the 
applicant,  to  make  known  what  it  has  done,  to  the  Presbytery 
from  which  he  came,  with  its  reasons ;  it  being  always  under- 
stood that  each  Presbytery  is,  in  this  concern,  as  in  all  others, 
responsible  for  its  acts  to  the  higher  judicatories. 

"II.  Resolved,  That  in  the  judgment  of  this  General  Assem- 
bly, it  is  the  right,  and  may  be  the  duty,  of  any  judicatory  of 
our  church,  to  take  up,  and  if  it  see  cause,  fo  bear  testimony 
against  any  printed  publication,  which  may  be  circulating  with- 
in its  bounds,  and  which  in  the  judgment  of  that  judicatory 
may  be  adapted  to  inculcate  injurious  opinions;  and  this, 
whether  the  author  be  living  or  dead — whether  he  be  in  the 
communion  of  our  churcli.or  not — whether  he  be  a  member  of 
the  judicatory  expressing  the  opinion,  or  of  some  other — a  judi- 
catory may  be  solemnly  called  upon  to  warn  the  churches 
under  its  care,  and  especially  the  rising  generation,  against  an 
erroneous  book,  while  the  author  may  not  be  within  the  bounds 


OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED.  195 

#■"•*'  or  immediately  responsible,  at  their  bar  ;  and  while  even,  if  he 
were  thus  responsible  and  within  their  reach,  they  might  not 
think  it  necessary  to  arraign  him  as  a  heretic.  To  deny  our 
judicatories,  as  guardians  of  the  churches,  this  right,  would  be 
to  deny  them  one  of  the  most  precious  and  powerful  means  of 
bearing  testimony  against  dangerous  sentiments,  and  guarding 
the  children  of  the  church  against  that  ^instruction  which  cans- 
eth  to  err.'  The  writer  of  such  a  book  may  reside  at  a  distance 
from  the  neighborhood  in  which  his  work  is  circulating,  and 
supposed  to  be  doing  mischief,  or  he  may  be  so  situated,  that 
even  if  it  be  proper  to  commence  process  against  him,  it  may 
not  be  possible  to  commence,  or  at  any  rate,  t,o  issue  that  pro- 
cess within  a  number  of  months.  In  the  meanwhile,  if  the 
right  in  question  be  denied,  this  book  may  be  scattering  poison, 
without  the  possibihty  of  sending  forth  an  eftectual  antidote. 
Indeed,  it  may  be  indispensably  necessary,  in  cases  which  may 
easily  be  imagined,  to  send  out  such  a  warning,  even  though 
the  author  of  the  book  were  fully  acquitted  from  the  charge  of 
heresy. 

"III.  Resolved,  That  the  erection  of  church  courts,  and  espe- 
cially of  Presbyteries  and  Synods,  on  the  principle  oi^  elective 
affinity,'  that  is,  judicatories  not  bounded  by  geograpical  limits, 
but  having  a  chief  regard  in  their  erection  to  diversities  of  doc- 
trinal belief,  and  of  ecclesiastical  policy,  is  contrary  both  to  the 
letter  and  the  spirit  of  our  constitution,  and  opens  a  wide  door 
for  mischiefs  and  abuses,  of  the  most  serious  kind.  One  such 
Presbytery,  if  so  disposed,  might,  in  process  of  time,  fill  the 
whole  church  with  unsound  and  schismatic  ministers,  especial- 
ly if  the  principle  were  adopted,  that  regular  testimonials  must 
of  course  secure  the  admission  of  those  into  any  other  Presby- 
tery. Such  a  Presbytery,  moreover,  being  without  geographi- 
cal bounds,  might  enter  the  limits  and  disturb  the  repose  of  any 
church  into  which  it  might  think  proper  to  intrude,  and  thus 
divide  churches,  stir  up  strife,  and  promote  party  spirit  and 
schism,  with  all  their  deplorable  consequences.  Surely  a  plan 
of  procedure  in  the  church  of  God,  which  naturally  and  almost 
unavoidablj''  tends  to  produce  effects  such  as  these,  ought  to  be 
frowned  upon,  and  as  soon  as  possible  terminated  by  the  su- 
preme judicatory  of  the  church  ;  therefore — 

"IV.  Resolved,  That  from  and  after  the  meeting  of  the  Synod 
of  Philadelphia,  in  October  next,  the  Synod  of  Delaware  shall 
be  dissolved,  and  the  Presbyteries  constituting  the  same,  shall 
be  then  and  thereafter  annexed  to  the  Synod  of  Pliiladelphia ; 
and  that  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia,  thus  constituted  by  the 
union  aforesaid,  shall  take  such  order  concerning  the  organiza- 
tion of  its  several  Presbyteries  as  may  be  deemed  constitutional , 


196  OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED.  ' 

and  expedient ;  and  that  said  Synod,  if  it  shall  deem  it  desira- 
ble, make  application  to  the  next  General  Assembly  for  snch  a 
division  of  the  Synod  as  may  best  suit  the  convenience  of  all 
its  P-resbyteries,  and  promote  the  glory  of  God, 

•'  V.  Resolved,  That  while  this  General  Assembly  fully  ap- 
preciate, and  deeply  deplore,  the  many  painful  evils  which  re- 
sult from  the  present  division  in  our  church,  in  respect  to  the 
method  of  conducting  domestic  missions,  and  the  education  of 
beneficiary  candidates  for  the  ministry,  they  are  persuaded  that 
it  is  not  expedient  to  attempt  to  prohibit,  within  our  bounds, 
the  operation  of  tliB  'Home  Missionary  Society'  or  of  the  'Pres- 
byterian Education  Society,'  or  any  other  voluntary  association 
not  subject  to  our  control.  Such  an  attempt  would  tend,  it  is 
beheved,  to  increase  rather  than  to  diminish  the  existing  evils. 
The  Assembly,  however,  is  persuaded  ihat  it  is  the  first  and 
binding  duty  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  to  sustain  her  own 
boards,  and  that  voluntary  associations,  operating  within  the 
bosom  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  and  addressing  themselves 
to  her  members  and  congregations,  are  bound  upon  every  prin- 
ciple, both  of  moral  and  ecclesiastical  obligation,  neither  to  edu- 
cate nor  to  send  forth  as  Presbyterians,  any  individuals  known 
to  hold  sentimenis  contrary  to  the  v/ord  of  God,  and  to  the 
standards  of  the  Presbyterian  Church. 

VI.  "Resolved,  That  this  Assembly  deem  it  no  longer  desira- 
ble that  churches  should  be  formed,  in  our  Presbyterian  connex- 
ion, agreeably  to  the  plan  adopted  by  the  Assembly,  and  the  Gen- 
eral Association  of  Connecticut,  in  1801  ;  therefore  resolved,  that 
our  brethren  of  the  General  Association  of  Connecticut  be,  and 
they  hereby  are  respectfully  requested  to  consent,  that  said  plan 
shall  be,  from  and  after  the, next  meeting  of  that  association,  de- 
clared to  be  annulled;  and  resolved,  ih-dt  the  annulling  of  said 
plan  shall  not  in  anywise  interfere  with  the  existence  and  lawful 
operations  of  churches,  which  have  already  been  formed  on  this 
plan. 

"  VII.  Resolved,  That  this  General  Assembly  see  no  cause, 
ei'hsr  to  terminate  or  modify  the  plan  of  correspondence,  with 
the  associations  of  our  Congregational  brethren  in  New  England. 
That  correspondence  has  been  long  established.  It  is  believed  to 
have  been  productive  of  mutual  benefit.  It  is  now  divested  of  the 
voting  power,  which  alone  could  be  considered  as  infringing  tlie 
constitution  of  our  church,  by  introducing  persons  clothed  with 
the  character  of  plenary  members  of  the  Assembly.  It  stands- at 
present,  substantially,  on  the  same  footing  with  the  visits  of  our 
brethren  from  the  Congregational  Union  of  England  and  Wales ; 
and  in  the  present  age  of  enlarged  counsel  and  of  combined  effort, 
for  the  coaversion  of  the  vvorld,  ought  by  no  means  to  be  abolish- 


«#*  OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED.  197 


ed.  Besides,  the  Assembly  are  persuaded,  that  amidst  the  in- 
creasing and  growing  intercourse,  between  the  Presbyterian  and 
Congregational  Churches,  it  is  desirable  to  have  that  intercourse 
regulated  by  compact,  and  of  course,  that  it  would  be  desirable 
to  introduce  terms  of  correspondence,  even  if  they  did  not  already 
exist. 

"VIII.  Resolved,  That  while  this  General  Assembly  has  no 
means  of  ascertaining  to  what  extent  the  doctrinal  errors,  alleged 
in  the  memorial  to  exist  in  our  church,  do  really  prevail,  it  can- 
not hesitate  to  express  the  painful  conviction,  that  the  allegation 
is  by  no  means  unfounded^  and  at  the  same  time,  to  condemn  all 
such  opinions  as  not  distinguishable  from  Pelagian  or  Arminian 
errors,  and  to  declare  their  judgment,  that  the  holding  of  the 
opinions  referred  to  is  wholly  incompatible  with  an  honest  adop- 
tion of  our  Confession  of  Faith.  That  this  is  the  case,  will  be 
doubted  by  none,  who  impartially  consider  the  statements  of  that 
Formulary,  contained  in  chapter  VII,  see's  3rd  and  4th ;  chapter 
VII,  sec.  '2nd;  chapters  VIII,  IX,  X,  sec.  1st  and  2nd;  chapter 
XI,  sec.  1st,  which  statements  must  of  course  be  interpreted,  in 
their  plain,  obvious  and  hitherto  acl<nowiedged  sense.  Against 
the  doctrinal  opinions  therefore,  above  alluded  to,  the  Assembly 
would  solemnly  lift  a  warning  voice,  and  would  enjoin  upon  all 
our  Presbyteries  and  Synods  to  exercise  the  utmost  vigilance  in 
guarding  against  the  introduction  and  publication  of  such  pestife- 
rous errors." 

The  following  highly  important  missionary  resolution,  present- 
ed substantially  to  the  Assembly  for  their  consideration,  by  the 
convention  immediately  preceding,  was  adopted,  viz: 

"  The  committee  on  the  paper  submitted  to  them,  in  relation 
to  the  Western  Foreign  Missionary  Society,  recommend  the 
adoption  of  the  following  resolutions,  viz  : 

"I.  That  it  is  the  solemn  conviction  of  this  General  Assem- 
bly, that  the  Presbyterian  Church  owes  it  as  a  sacred  duty  to 
her  glorified  Head,  to  yield  a  far  more  exemplary  obedience, 
and  that  in  her  distinctive  character  as  a  church,  to  the  com- 
mand which  he  gave  at  his  ascension  into  heaven,  '  Go  ye  into 
all  the  world  and  preach  the  gospel  to  every  creature.'  It  is 
believed  to  be  among  the  causes  of  the  frowns  of  the  great 
Head  of  the  church,  which  are  now  resting  upon  our  beloved 
Zion,  in  the  declension  of  vital  piety,  and  the  disorders  and  di- 
visions that  distract  us,  that  we  have  done  so  little,  comparatively 
nothing,  in  our  dislinctice  character  as  a  church  of  Christ,  to 
send  the  gospel  to  the  heathen,  the  Jews,  and  the  Mahomedans. 
It  is  regarded  as  of  vital  importance  to  the  welfare  of  our 
chnrch,  that  -foreign  as  well  as  domestic  missions,  should  be 
more  zealously  prosecuted  and  more  liberally  patronizedj  and 


198  OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED.  "^l 

that  as  a  nucleus  of  foreign  missionary  effort  and  operation,  the 
Western  Foreign  Missionary  Society  should  receive  the  coun- 
tenance, as  it  appears  to  us  to  merit  the  confidence,  of  those 
who  cherish  an  attachment  to  the  doctrines  and  order  of  the 
church  to  which  we  belong. 

"  II.  Resolved,  That  a  committee  be  appointed  to  confer  with 
the  Synod  of  Pittsburgh,  on  the  subject  of  a  transfer  of  the  su- 
pervision of  the  Western  Foreign  Missionary  Society,  now  un- 
der the  direction  of  that  Synod,  to  ascertain  the  terms  on  which 
such  transfer  can  be  made,  to  devise  and  digest  a  plan  of  con- 
ducting foreign  missions,  under  tlie  direction  of  the  General  As- 
sembly of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  and  report  the  whole  to  the 
next  General  Assembly.*' 


CHAPTER   XVI. 

The  Assembly  met  in  Pittsburgh,  May  19,'1836,  earnestly  contend  with 
the  New  School  assailants,  for  their  right  to  conduct  missions— Contro- 
versy warm  and  lasting — Orthodox  views  presented — Resolutions  offered 
— Overruled  by  New  School  men — Their  artifice — Pertinacy — Triumph 
— Exultation — Protest  drawn  by  Dr.  Miller — The  Church  in  the  power  of 
her  foes. 

We  here  insert  a  very  material  part  of  the  records  of  the  As- 
sembly which  met  in  Pittsburgh  on  the  19th  day  of  May,  1836. 

The  arrogant  usurpations  and  encroachments  of  the  New 
School,  through  the  whole  course  of  this  Assembly,  confirmed 
the  impressions  which  their  corrupt  measures  in  preceding  years 
had  implanted  deeply  in  the  breasts  of  honest  and  true  Presby- 
teriaTis.  Here,  having  mustered  their  full  force,  they  resolved, 
by  the  most  violent  and  reckless  action,  if  possible,  to  occupy 
-^the  citadel  of  the  church,  and  so  to  fortify  themselves  in  that 
^  position  as  to  defy  all  attempts  to  dislodge  them.  Mistaken  in 
their  calculations,  they  could  not  see  that  they  were  preparing 
a  precipice  for  themselves,  opening  a  volcano  whose  speedy 
eruption  would  throw  them,  in  fragments  and  scattered  clusters, 
with  painful  and  disgusting  exhioitions,  from  within  and  from 
without,  to  every  wind,  as  the  just  recompense  of  their  long 
and  audacious  crusade  against  that  church  which  they  bad 
solemnly  sworn,  before  earth  and  heaven,  forever  to  maintain 
and  vindicate. 

The  question  was  now  to  be  decided,  whether  or  not  the 


OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED.  199 

Presbyterian  Church  should  continue  to  exist  and  control  her 
legitimate  business  according  to  her  own  constitution,  usages, 
and  earnest  wishes,  or  be  given  up  to  the  lawless  management 
with  which  they  saw  themselves  threatened  by  the  New  School 
party.  A  few  brief  records  will  remove  the  disguise  from  the 
intruders,  and  display  the  full  deformity  of  their  designs. 

On  Wednesday,  27th  of  Maj'-,  the  following  document  was 
presented  to  the  Assembly,  viz  : 

"  The  committee  to  whom  was  referred  the  report  of  the 
committee  appointed  by  the  last  Assembly,  on  the  subject  of  a 
transfer  of  the  Western  Foreign  Missionary  Society  to  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly,  and  also  the  overture  from  the  Synod  of  Phila- 
delphia, on  the  subject  of  foreign  missions,  report : 

"  That  the  attention  of  the  last  Assembly  was  called  to  the 
subject  of  foreign  missions,  by  the  following  overture,  on  page 
31  of  printed  minutes  :  '  That  it  is  the  solemn  conviction  of  this 
General  Assembly,  that  the  Presbyterian  Church  owes  it  as  a 
sacred  duty  to  her  glorified  Head,  to  yield  a  far  more  exemplary 
obedience,  and  that  in  her  distinctive  character  as  a  church,  to 
the  command  which  he  gave  at  his  ascension  into  heaven, 
'  G,o  ye  into  all  the  world,  and  preach  the  gospel  unto  every 
creature.'  It  is  believed  to  be  among  the  causes  of  the  frowns 
of  the  great  Head  of  the  church,  which  are  now  resting  upon 
our  beloved  Zion,  in  the  declension  of  vital  piety,  and  the  dis- 
orders and  divisions  that  distract  us,  that  we  have  done  so  little, 
comparatively  nothing,  in  our  distinctive  character  as  a  Church 
of  Christ,  to  send  the  gospel  to  the  heatiien,  to  the  Jews,  and  to  the 
Mahomedans.  It  is  regarded  as  of  vital  importance  to  the  welfare 
of  our  church,  that  foreign  as  well  as  domestic  missions  should 
be  more  zealously  prosecuted,  and  more  liberally  patronized  ; 
and  that  as  a  nucleus  of  foreign  missionary  etfort  and  operation, 
the  Western  Foreign  Missionary  Society  should  receive  the 
countenance,  as  it  appears  to  us  to  merit  the  confidence,  of 
those  who  cherish  an  attachment  to  the  doctrines  and  order  of 
the  church  to  which  we  belong.' " 

"  The  Assembly  feeling  the  force  of  the  suggestions  contained 
in  this  overture,  and  believing  it  to  be  a  very  important  part  of 
their  appropriate  work,  to  spread  the  gospel  throughout  the 
world,  adopted  the  overture  in  the  form  of  a  resolution,  to- 
gether with  the  following,  viz  : 

"  '  Resolved,  That  a  committee  be  appointed  to  confer  with  the 
Synod  of  Pittsburgh  on  the  subject  of  a  transfer  of  the  Western 
Foreign  Missionary  Society,  now  under  the  direction  of  that 
Synod ;  to  ascertain  the  terms  on  which  such  transfer  can  be 
made ;  to  devise  and  digest  a  plan  of  conducting  foreign  mis- 
sions, under  the   direction  of  the   General   Assembly  of  the 


200  OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED. 

Presbyterian  Church,  and  report  the  whole  to  the  next  General 
Assembly.' 

'•'  From  this  it  appears  that  the  proposition  to  confer  with  the 
Synod,  and  to  assume  the  supervision  and  control  of  the  West- 
ern Foreign  Missionary  Society,  originated  in  the  Assembly. 

"  At  that  time,  the  Western  Foreign  Missionary  Society  was 
in  a  prosperous  condition,  enjoying  the  confidence,  and  receiv- 
ing the  patronage  of  a  considerable  number  of  our  churches, 
having  in  their  employ  about  twenty  missionaries,  and  their 
funds  were  unembarrassed.  The  committee  having  conferred 
with  some  of  the  members  of  that  society,  and  findmg  that  the 
proposal  was  favourably  regarded  by  them,  indulging  the  hope 
that  an  arrangement  might  be  definitely  made  with  the  Synod, 
at  their  next  stated  meeting,  by  which  the  Assembly  would  be 
prepared  to  enter  on  the  work  at  their  present  session,  brought 
the  subject  again  before  the  Assembly,  when  it  was,  after  ma- 
ture dehberation, 

" '  Resolved,  That  the  committee  appointed  to  confer  with  the 
Synod  of  Pittsburgh,  on  the  subject  of  the  transfer  of  the  super- 
vision of  the  Western  Foreign  JNIissionary  Society  to  the  Gene- 
ral Assembly,  be  authorized,  if  they  shall  approve  of  the  said 
transfer,  to  ratify  and  confirm  the  same  with  the  said  Synod, 
and  report  the  same  to  the  next  General  Assembly.' 

"  The  committee  thus  appointed  and  clothed  with  full  powers 
to  ratify  and  confirm  a  transfer,  submitted  the  terms  on  which 
they  were  willing  to  accept  it,  to  the  Synod  of  Pittsburgh,  at 
their  Sessions  last  fall.  The  members  of  the  committee  not  be- 
ing present  at  the  meeting  of  the  Synod,  and  there  being  no 
time  for  further  correspondence,  the  Synod  (although  they  would 
have  preferred  some  alteration  of  the  terms,)  were  precluded 
from  proposing  any,  on  the  ground  that  such  alteration  would 
vitiate  the  whole  proceedings,  and  therefore  acceded  to  the 
terms  of  the  transfer,  which  were  proposed  by  the  committee  of 
the  Assembly,  and  solemnly  ratified  the  contract  on  their  part. 
Feeling  themselves  bound  by  the  same,  and  trusting  to  the  good 
faith  of  this  body,  they  have  acted  accordingly,  and  have  made 
no  provision  for  their  missionaries  now  in  the  field,  for  a  longer 
time  than  the  meeting  of  this  Assembly,  having  informed  them 
of  the  transfer  which  has  taken  place,  and  of  the  new  relation 
they  would  sustain  to  this  body,  after  their  present  Sessions. 

"  It  appears,  then,  to  your  committee,  that  the  Assembly  have 
entered  into  a  solemn  compact  whh  the  Synod  of  Pittsburgh, 
and  that  there  remains  but  one  righteous  course  to  pursue, 
which  is,  to  adopt  the  report  of  the  committee  appointed  last  - 
year,  and  to  appoint  a  Foreign  Missionary  Board.  To  pause 
now,  or  to  annul  the  doings  of  the  last  Assembly  in  this  matter. 


OLD    SCHOOL    VIXDICATED.  201 

would  be  obviously  a  violation  of  contract,  a  breach  of  trust, 
and  a  departure  from  that  good  faith,  which  should  be  soundly 
kept  between  man  and  man,  and  especially  between  Christian 
societies;  conduct  which  would  be  utterly  unworthy  of  this 
venerable  body,  and  highly  injurious  to  the  Western  Foreign 
Missionary  Society. 

"The  committee  beg  leave  further  respectfully  to  remind  the 
Assembly,  that  a  large  portion  of  our  churches  (being  Presby- 
terians from  conviction  and  preference,)  feel  it  to  be  not  only 
consistent,  but  their  solemn  duty  in  the  sight  of  God,  to  impart 
to  others  the  same  good,  and  in  the  same  form  of  it,  which  they 
enjoy  themselves,  and  to  be  represented  in  heathen  lands,  by 
Missionaries  of  their  own  denomination.  They  greatly  prefer 
such  an  organization  as  this  contemplated,  and  which  shall  be 
Tinder  the  care  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  and  cannot  be  en- 
listed so  well  in  the  great  and  glorious  work  of  sending  the 
gospel  to  the  heathen  under  any  other  form.  Already,  with  the 
blessing  of  the  great  Head  of  the  church  on  the  efforts  of  the 
Western  Foreign  Missionary  Society,  in  this  form  of  operation, 
has  a  missionary  spirit  been  awakened  among  them  to  considera- 
ble extent,  and  an  interest  in  the  cause  of  missions  been  created, 
never  before  felt  by  them.  They  have  furnished  men  for  the 
work,  and  are  contributing  cheerfully  to  their  support  in  the 
foreign  field. 

"As  one  great  end  to  be  accomplished  by  all  who  love  the  Re- 
deemer, is  to  awaken  and  cherish  a  missionary  spirit,  and  to  en- 
list all  the  churches  in  the  work  of  evansrelising  the  world  :  as 
every  leading  Christian  denomination  in  the  world  has  its  own 
foreign  missionary  board,  and  has  found  such  distinct  organiza- 
tion the  most  effectual  method  of  interesting  the  churches  under 
their  care  in  this  great  subject ;  as  such  an  organization  cannot 
interfere  with  the  rights  or  operation  of  any  other  similar  organi- 
zation, for  the  field  is  the  world,  and  is  wide  enough  for  all  to 
cultivate,  as  it  is  neither  desired  nor  intended  to  dictate  to  any  in 
this  matter,  but  simply  to  give  an  opportunity  of  sending  the  gos- 
pel to  the  heathen  by  their  own  missionaries,  to  those  who  prefer 
this  mode  of  doing  so,  giving  them  that  liberty  which  they  cheer- 
fully accord  to  others,  your  committee  cannot  suppose  for  a  mo- 
ment, that  this  General  Assembly  will,  in  this  stage  of  the  pro- 
ceedings, refuse  to  consummate  this  arrangement  with  the  Sj'nod 
of  Pittsburgh,  and  thus  prevent  so  many  churches  under  their 
care,  from  supporting  their  missionaries  in  their  own  way.  From 
this  view  of  the  case,  they  recommend  to  the  Assembly  the  adop- 
tion of  the  following  resolutions,  viz: 

"  1.  Resolved,  That  the  report  of  the  committee  appointed  by 
the  last  Assembly  to  confer  with  the  Synod  of  Pittsburgh  on  the 


202  OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED. 

subject  of  a  transfer  of  the  Western  Foreign  Missionary  Society 
to  the  Genera]  Assembly,  be  adopted,  and  that  said  transfer  be 
accepted  on  the  terms  of  agreement  therein  contained. 

"2.  Resolved,  That  the  Assetnbly  will  proceed  to  appoint  a 
Foreign  Missionary  Board,  the  seat  of  whose  operations  shall  be 
in  the  city  of  New  York." 

The  intelligent  reader  cannot  fail  to  perceive  that  the  preceding 
minute  contains  an  argument,  and  a  thread  of  special  pleading  in 
favour  of  the  missionary  system  of  operation,  proposed  by  the 
Assembly  to  the  Synod  of  Pittsburgh.  The  question  will  at  once 
be  asked,  why  this  defence  or  vindication,  so  formal  and  serious, 
of  a  measure  not  yet  completely  confirmed,  is  interwoven  with 
the  report  and  resolutions  under  consideration  by  the  Assembly. 
The  answer  is  obvious.  It  was  well  known  that  the  New  Eng- 
land party,  who  were  present  with  all  their  strength,  had  resolved 
to  make  a  most  inveterate  attempt  to  defeat  the  happy  arrange- 
ments so  successfully  made  with  the  Synod  of  Pittsburgh,  in  the 
missionary  work.  Well,  we  ask  again,  why  did  the  New  School 
combine  all  their  strength  in  this  manner,  and  direct  their  venom 
against  this  wise,  and  holy,  and  benevolent  missionary  enterprise? 
The  answer  is,  that  they  might  monopolize  and  engulph  this  great 
work  in  their  Home  Missionary  Society,  and  bring  the  whole 
Presbyterian  Church,  in  her  length  and  breadth,  with  all  her 
talents,  resources,  and  capacities,  to  throw  off  their  Presbyterian, 
responsibility,  name,  and  spirit,  to  become  the  tools,  the  abettors, 
the  convenient,  dependent  instruments  of  alien  organizations,  and 
thus,  at  once  the  victims  and  the  slaves  of  the  New  School  party. 

A  few  more  lines  will  reveal  the  secret,  and  confirm  the  fact, 
which,  on  the  best  grounds,  are  anticipated  in  the  preceding  doc- 
uments. 

Thursday  morning,  the  Assembly  took  up  the  report  to  the 
last  Assembly,  on  the  transfer  of  the  Western  Foreign  Missionary 
Society,  the  order  of  the  day. 

Dr.  Skinner,  one  of  the  committee  who  dissented  from  this 
report,  made  a  counter  report,  which  was  read,  and  is  as  follows, 
viz : 

"  Whereas,  the  American  Board  of  commissioners  for  foreign 
missions,  has  been  connected  with  the  Presbyterian  Church  from 
the  year  of  its  incorporation,  by  the  very  elements  of  its  exist- 
ence; and  whereas,  at  the  present  time,  the  majority  of  the  whole 
of  that  board  are  Presbyterians;  and  whereas,  it  is  undesirable 
that  there  should  be  any  coHision,  at  home  or  abroad  ;   therefore, 

*'  Resolved,  That  it  is  inexpedievt  that  the  Assembly  should  or- 
ganize a  separole  foreign  missionary  institution." 

Here  the  New  School  unmask  themselves  ;  our  anticipation  is 
realized  ;  the  design  of  the  adversary  to  subvert  the  Presbyterian 


OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED.  203 

Church  altogether,islaid  bare.  A  briefanalysis  of  Dr.  Skinner's  mo- 
tion would  present  the  matters  contained  in  it  before  us  in  the  follow- 
ing aspect.  The  American  Board  of  commissioners  "connected 
with  the  Presbyterian  Church  from  itsincorporation,by  the  elements 
of  its  existence."  The  fact  is,  there  were  individuals  of  the  Pres- 
byterian Church  connected  with  that  board  from  the  beginning-. 
But  who  were  these  individuals?  Who  authorized  that  connexion? 
What  was  their  character,  in  ecclesiastical  sympathy,  policy,  and 
intercourse?  They  were,  with  very  few  exceptions,  of  the  same 
cast  with  those  who  were  then  supporting  Skinner  in  his  motion, 
New  England,  Congregational,  New  School  men,  anti-Presbyte- 
rian advocates  of  the  voluntary  principle. 

Again  :  Skinner's  resolution  says,  at  present,  "  a  majority  of  the 
whole  of  that  board  are  Presbyterians."  If  true,  this  fact  shows 
how  far  the  spirit  of  apostacy  and  defection  from  the  Presbyte- 
rian family  had  already  penetrated ;  what  power  it  had  acquired 
over  our  own  members,  and  what  dangers  it  was  threatening  to 
the  true  church;  for  the  fact  still  remains  unshaken,  that  although 
most  of  them  might  have  been  nominally  Presbyterian,  their 
iiearts,  th'eir  afiections,  their  influence,  their  contributions,  and 
their  efforts,  were  all  directed  and  devoted  to  a  foreign  land;  to 
an  institution,  in  every  ieature,  in  all  its  designs,  its  movements 
and  influences,  hostile  to  the  Presbyterian  system  ;  this,  they  sought 
to  abolish,  and  for  it  to  substitute  their  own. 

Again,  Skinner  says,  "  it  is  undesirable  that  there  should  be 
any  collision*  at  home  or  abroad."  Here  is  exhibited  the  kind, 
liberal, /)flc?^c  spirit  of  the  men  who  charge  the  orthodox  body 
with  intolerance,  for  maintaining  their  own  standards!  They  tell 
us  plainly,  they  mean  to  covtend;  they  are  ready  for  war;  they 
never  intend  to  relinquish  the  purpose  of  triumph  and  monopoly, 
power  and  spoils,  without  a  bloody  struggle.  We  do  not  doubt 
it;  we  have  tested  their  principles,  we  have  already  witnessed 
their  rancour  and  violence,  we  have  seen  their  character  suffi- 
ciently developed  to  put  this  matter  beyond  doubt.  But  are  we 
to  be  frightened  and  deterred  by  such  threats?  Must  Presbyte- 
rians, sacrifice  all  to  the  cruel  invaders  and  plunderers  of  their 
church,  without  an  effort  to  repel  them  ?  Have  they  no  distinctive 
principles  and  forms  to  contend  for?  Have  they  no  duties  to  per- 
form, to  the  trusts  and  responsibilities  confided  ?  to  the  flocks 
committed  to  their  care?  to  the  Saviour  who  bled  for  them  ?  to 
the  God  who  will  judge  them  ? 

Again:  Skinner's  resolution  asserts,  "  it  is  inexpedient  to  or- 
ganize a  separate  foreign  missionary  society."  Who  can  fail  to 
admire  the  modesty  of  this  summary,  or  conclusion  of  the  whole 

*  Here  is  their  threat  of  open  warfare.  As  the  Yankees  in  New  York 
said,  "  they  meant  to  fight  it  out."' 


204  OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED. 

matter?  This  Boston  association  is  competent  to  explore  and  em- 
brace the  whole  earth;  to  perform  the  desired  errand  of  mercy 
to  all  mankind;  to  penetrate  all  lands  and  oceans,  mountains, 
rivers,  islands,  and  continents.  They  will  occupy  the  whole  field 
of  the  world  themselves;  they  will  leave  nothing  undone  that 
ought  to  be  done;  our  name  is  legion,  for  we  are  many.  God 
needs  no  other  instrumentality  in  fulfilling  the  Saviour's  command, 
"  Go  preach  the  gospel  to  every  creature,"  than  these  New  School 
apostates  from  Piesbyterianism. 

The  motion  was  made  and  carried  on  the  top  of  a  hill,  from 
which  it  will  be  distinctly  visi-ble  to  millions  of  honest  eyes,  to  the 
ends  of  the  earth,  and  till  the  end  of  time.  Another  fact  in  this 
disgraceful  recapitulation  must  not  be  omitted.  The  motion  of 
Dr.  Skinner,  the  mover  well  knew,  if  carried,  came  with  an  unre- 
lenting, coercive  power,  of  simple  majority,  to  compel  the  As- 
sembly to  violate  a  sacred  contract,  made  by  her  solemn  ap- 
pointment and  sanction,  with  the  Synod  of  Pittsburgh,  to  secure 
the  transfer  of  the  Western  Foreign  Missionary  Society  to  the 
Assembly.  Can  any  candid,  judicious  man  upon  earth,  presume 
to  say  that  the  Presbyterian  Church  were  bound,  in  the  slightest 
degree,  to  submit  to  acts  and  measures  of  New  School  origin,  so 
arbitrary,  insolent,  and  oppressive,  when  the  alleged  preference 
was  based,  not  upon  the  superior  excellence  or  etliciency  of  the 
New  School  missionary  system,  but  upon  open  and  inveterate 
hostility  to  the  avowed  Presbyterian  plan  of  conducting  missions 
as  a  church. 

On  Friday,  at  two  o'clock.  P.  M.,  the  vote  was  taken  on  the 
question  to  postpone  the  report  of  the  committee,  to  take  up  the 
report  of  Dr.  Skinner,  and  was  decided  in  the  negative  by  the 
following  vote,  viz:  133  in  favour  of  postponing,  and  134  in  the 
opposition,  giving  to  the  Presbyterian  Church  organization,  one 
single  vote  majority. 

The  New  School,  still  determined  as  death  upon  their  object, 
on  the  resumption  and  extended  discussion  of  the  subject  of  trans- 
ferring the  Western  Missionary  Society  to  the  General  Assembly, 
on  the  main  question  of  adopting  the  report,  called  for  the  pre- 
vious question,  which  gave  a  majority  of  four  votes  in  favour  of 
Skinner's  motion. 

The  following  protest  was  introduced  and  ordered  to  be  en- 
tered on  the  minutes,  viz: 

"  The  undersigned  do  solemnly  protest  against  the  decision  of 
the  General  Assembly,  whereby  the  report  of  the  committee  of 
the  last  General  Assembly,  respecting  the  Western  Foreign  Mis- 
sionary Society  was  rejected,  for  the  following  reasons: 

"  1.  Because  we  consider  the  decision  of  the  Assembly,  in  this 
case,  as  an  unjustifiable  refusal  to  carry  into  efTect  a  solemn  con- 


OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED.  205 

tract  with  the  Synod  of  Pittsburgh,  duly  ratified  and  confirmed 
under  the  authority  of  the  last  Assembly. 

"2,  Because  we  are  impressed  with  the  deepest  conviction, 
that  the  Presbyterian  Church,  in  her  ecclesiastical  capacity,  is 
bound,  in  obedience  to  the  command  of  her  divine  Head  and 
Lord,  to  send  the  glorious  gospel  as  far  as  may  be  in  her  power, 
to  every  creature;  and  we  consider  the  decision  of  the  Assembly 
in  this  case  as  a  direct  refusal  to  obey  this  command,  and  to  pur- 
sue one  of  the  great  objects  for  which  the  church  was  founded. 

"3.  Because  it  is  our  deliberate  persuasion,  that  a  large  part  of 
the  energy,  zeal,  and  resources  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  can- 
not be  called  into  action  in  the  missionary  cause,  without  the  es- 
tablishment of  a  missionary  board  by  the  General  Assembly.  It 
is  evident  that  no  other  ecclesiastical  organization,  by  fragments 
of  the  church,  can  be  formed,  which  will  ut)ite,  satisfy,  and  call 
forth  the  zealous  co-operation  of  those  in  every  part  of  the  church, 
who  wish  for  a  general  Presbyterian  board. 

"  4.  Because,  while  the  majority  of  the  Assembly  acknowledges 
ibsii  they  had  a  board  which  fully  met  all  the  wants  and  wishes 
of  themselves,  and  of  those  who  sympathized  with  them  ;  they  re- 
fused to  make  such  a  division  as  would  accord  to  us  a  similar 
and  equal  privilege,  thereby,  as  we  conceive,  refusing  that  which 
would  have  been  only  just  and  equal,,  and  rejecting  a  plan  which 
would  have  extended  greatly  the  missionary  spirit,  and  exerted  a 
reflex  beneficial  influence  on  the  church,  thus  indulged  with  a 
board  agreeable  to  their  views. 

"  5.  Because,  to  all  these  considerations,  urged  with  solemnity 
and  afl^ection,  the  majority  of  the  Assembly  were  deaf,  and  have 
laid  us  under  the  necessity  of  protesting  against  their  course ;  of 
complaining  that  we  are  denied  a  most  reasonable,  and,  to  us, 
most  precious  privilege ;  and  of  lamenting  that  we  are  laid  under 
the  necessity  of  resorting  to  plans  of  ecclesiastical  organization, 
complicated,  inconvenient,  and  much  more  adapted,  on  a  variety 
of  accounts,  to  interfere  wilh  ecclesiastical  harmony,  than  the 
proposed  board  would  have  been.. 

Pittsburgh,  June  9,  1836..  Signed. 

Samuel  Miller — the  writer, 
James  Lenox,  &c." 

In  all,  Orthodox,  87  names — New  School,  91. 

The  passage  of  Dr.  Skinner's  resolution,  was  the  consummation 
of  New  School  ambition  for  the  present  moment;  a  full  exhibition 
of  the  proscriptive  tyranny  and  violence  of  their  designs.  It 
seems  scarcely  possible,  that  any  company  of  men  whose  reason 
was  not  dethroned,  could  become  so  infatuated  as  to  suppose  that 
the  Presbyterian  Church  would  submit  to  such;  an  outrage;  that 
they  would  permit  strangers  and  aliens,  of  another  creed,  another 


206  OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED. 

policy,  another  name,  another  sphit,  who  had,  under  false  pre- 
tences and  broken  vows,  crept  in  unawares,  concealing  their  in- 
gress, nnuUiplying  their  numbers,  magnifying  their  powers,  fortify- 
ing their  positions,  with  untiring  zeal  and  in  an  increasing  progress, 
to  take  away  from  the  Presbyterian  body,  to  snatch  rapaciously 
from  their  very  bosom,  that  work  of  benevolence  and  evangeliza- 
tion, which  was  the  governing  and  distinguishing  designation  and 
ascension  command  of  her  gracious  sovereign.  But  this  tri- 
umphant act  of  spoilation,  these  infatuated  and  desperate  men 
actually  attempted,  and  well  nigh  succeeded  in  accomplishing; 
with  a  deliberate  coolness,  callousness,  air  of  triumph  and  exulta- 
tion, rarely  witnessed.  So  that  at  the  church  door,  after  the  As- 
sembly adjourned,  the  great  apostle  of  New  School  propagandism 
in  the  West,  so  flushed  with  the  victory,  and  so  confident  of  ulti- 
mate triumph  in  their  revolutionary  progress,  exclaimed  aloud,  in 
vulgar  terms,  "  That's  the  last  kick  of  Presbyterianism  1"  There 
vou  may  read  the  character  of  Dr.  Beecher.  Poor  creatures; 
"they  really  calculated,  with  a  majority  of  only  four  votes,  that 
"  they  had  fought  it  out;"  that  they  had  won  the  battle;  that  the 
struggle  was  over ;  that  the  church  was  truly  under  their  control ; 
that  its  various  boards,  already  organized  or  in  contemplation, 
would  be  either  abolished,  or  changed  to  suit  their  Congregational 
schemes,  and  transferred  to  another  region,  to  be  directed  and 
conducted  as  aliens  and  strangers  might  prefer. 

But  the  giant  church  was  only  slumbering;  half  awake,  the 
foe  had  obtained  only  partial  possession  of  her  active  available 
means,  in  such  a  tremendous  emergency.  She  heard  their  war 
whoop  and  saw  the  desolation  and  havoc  of  the  assailants  ;  she 
heard  their  whispers  and  caught  their  secret  counsels  and  de- 
signs for  the  future,  as  they  floated  in  the  breeze — their  self  gratu- 
lation  and  triumph  in  their  past  and  future  progress.  "The  last 
kick  of  Presbyterianism  !" — that  delicate  and  refined  morceau  of 
wit,  of  New  School  delicacy — of  their  apostolic  piety  and  devo- 
tion, startled  many  of  the  church's  sleeping  sons  from  their  un- 
seasonable repose.  Thus  the  passage  of  the  despotic  resolution 
above  recited,  and  the  manner  in  which  it  was  promulged  and 
naade  the  theme  of  insolent  boast  and  triumph,  aided  in  producing 
the  speedy  discomfiture  and  total  banishment  of  the  New  School 
party  from  Presbyterian  record. 

The  church  now  clearly  perceived,  that  their  liberties,  in  Christ 
Jesus,  were  violently  assailed;  that  an  attempt  was  made  to  im- 
pair their  honour  and  high  standing  in  the  christian  world,  that 
the  most  choice,  direct  and  animating  path  of  duty  and  useful- 
ness opened  to  them  as  a  church,  by  their  great  leader,  was  ob- 
structed ;  that  the  solemn  dictates  of  their  consciences  were  par- 
alized  by  arbitrary  and  coercive  power,  requiring  them  to  sacri* 


OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED.  207 

vifice  their  deep  sense  of  obligation  to  obey  the  Saviour,  and  to 
become  subservient  to  the  v\'ill  and  caprice  of  an  alien  band,  who 
had  by  corrupt  and  lawless  means,  and  for  corrupt  and  lawless 
purposes,  attempted  to  acquire  dominion  over  them ;  these  sacri- 
fices they  were  not  prepared  to  make. 


CHAPTER    XVII. 

New  York  Address— Opinions  of  Mr.  Barnes— Strictures  upon  his  writings  -• 
Favourable  Notices  of  Dr.  Junkius'  Testimony — Dr.  Miller's  rejected  Pte- 
solution — Protest  in  connexion — A  powerful  host  in  support  on  record — 
Unitarian  Sentiments  in  regard  to  the  New  School,  and  their  opinions. 

'^  An  address  to  the  ministers,  elders  and  members  of  the  Pres- 
byterian Church  in  the  United  States,"  was  issued  A.  D.  1836,  by 
,'  a  committee  appointed  by  members  of  the  last  General  Assem- 
bly, at  Pittsburg,  to  prepare  and  circulate  a  publication  on  the 
state  of  the  church,  and  particularly  on  the  two  great  subjects, 
which  had  occupied  the  attention  of  the  Assembly,  viz : — The 
Barnes'  case  and  the  Foreign  Missionary  Question."  This  docu- 
ment, abounding  in  lucid  intelligence,  powerfal  argument  and 
convincing  appeal,  to  the  understanding  and  heart  of  all  honest 
and  sensible  men,  stands  among  the  most  important  papers  pub- 
lished in  that  day  of  contest,  for  the  church's  purity  and  safety; 
foremost  and  highest  in  eloquence,  integrity  and  power.  We  shall 
endeavour  to  convey  to  the  reader  a  just  idea  of  that  document 
by  inserting  some  extracts.  It  is  a  matter  of  regret  that  it  can- 
not be  placed  entire  in  the  hands  of  every  reader  in  our  land. 

The  following  observations  should  be  stamped  upon  the  front 
of  every  religious  society  in  the  world,  and  make  a  permanent 
lodgment  there : 

Page  4,  "  To  the  successful  maintainance  of  the  truth  of  God 
— to  union  of  efi'ort  in  its  maintainance,  creeds,  confessions  of 
faith,  are  indispensable.  It  is  readily  conceded,  that  the  Bible  is 
the  only  infallible  rule  of  faith  and  practice  ;  the  ultimate  standard 
by  which  every  doctrine  and  every  spirit  must  be  tried.  But  it 
is  well  known,  that  men  interpret  the  Bible  very  differently,  and 
that  all  the  errorists  that  have  ever  disturbed  the  church,  have 
professed  to  receive  it  as  their  text-book.  The  Arian,  the  Socin- 
ian,  the  Pelagian,  and  the  Arminian,  if  you  believe  them,  all 
find  their  several  systems  in  the  Bible ;  so  that  a  simple  profes- 
sion of  faith  in  the  Bible,  it  appears,  is  a  very  vague  matter,  and 


208  OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED. 

something  more  definite  and  explicit  is  evidently  necessary  to  as- 
certain the  reh'gious  sentiments  of  men.  Accordingly,  the  church 
has  never  been  without  her  confession  of  faith,  her  avowed  creed. 
The  Presbyterian  Church  has  her  forms  of  doctrine,  her  confes- 
sion of  faith  and  catechisms,  which  constitute  her  public  stand- 
ards. On  entering  the  Presbyterian  Church,  every  minister  of  the 
gospel  is  required  solemnly  to  avow,  that  the  doctrines  of  these 
standards  are  the  doctrines  which  he  holds  and  approves;  he  is 
required  to  answer  in  the  affirmative,  the  following  among  other 
questions,  viz :  Do  you  sincerely  receive  and  adopt  the  confes- 
sion of  faith  of  this  church,  as  containing  the  system  of  doctrine 
taught  in  the  Holy  Scriptures?  Mark  this  language.  It  is  not, 
do  you  receive  *  for  substance  of  doctrine,'  '  with  considerable 
latitude  of  interpretation,'  the  confession  of  faith  of  this  church  t 
Nor  is  it,  do  you  receive  the  'system'  of  doctrine  which  this  con- 
fession teaches  ?  It  is  more  explicit  still.  Do  you  sincerely  re- 
ceive  and  adopt  the  confession  of  failh  of  this  church,  as  contain- 
ing the  system  of  doctrines  taught  in  the  Holy  Scriptures?  as 
containing  the  accredited  principles  of  Christianity,  arranged  in 
systematic  order,  according  to  their  mutual  bearings  and  depend- 
ence? This  is  the  simple  naked  question,  and  were  all  who  an- 
swer this  question  to  do  so  in  good  faith,  sincerely  and  candidly, 
then  would  the  name  of  Presbyterian  be  an  intelligible  and  suffi- 
cient passport  throughout  our  bounds;  then  would  a  certificate 
of  the  fact,  that  an  individual,  before  any  Presbytery  in  the  land, 
had  received  our  standards,  at  once  make  us  acquainted  with  his 
doctrinal  sentiments,  and  commend  him  to  our  confidence,  for 
we  should  then  all  speak  the  same  thing,  and  be  perfectly  joined 
together  in  the  same  mind  and  in  the  same  judgment ! 

"  But  if  in  answering  this  question,  men  are  not  sincere  and 
candid,  if  when  they  say,  they  sincerely  receive  and  adopt  the 
confession  of  faith  o{  this  c/iwrc//,  they  receive  it  merel}'' as  a 
'system,'  distinguished  from  and  in  preference  to  other  systems, 
and  reserve  to  themselves  the  right  of  construing  its  language,  to 
mean  something  different  from  that  which  it  has  been  uniformly 
understood  to  mean,  then  it  is  plain  that  we  have  no  common 
standards — no  bond  of  union — and  that  it  is  impossible  to  know 
what  are  the  doctrines  held  by  those  nominally  connected  with  us." 

Another  kindred  paragraph  is  weighty  and  appropriate  to  this 
point.  "Creeds,  confessions  of  failh,  to  answer  their  true  and,  le- 
gitimate purpose,  must  be  honestly  received  ;  and  here  we  are 
constrained  to  believe,  is  one  fruitful  source  of  our  distractions  as 
a  church,  a  lack  of  honesty  in  the  reception  of  our  standards.. 
Although  they  have  professed  to  receive  our  standards,  they  do 
not  consider  themselves  bound  by  that  act  to  receive  all  the  doc- 
trines contained  in  them,  nor  to  construe  the  language  in  which 


OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED.  209 

they  are  expressed,  in  the  sense  in  which  it  was  manifestly  em- 
ployed by  those  who  framed  them.  Their  gigantic  and  independ- 
ent minds  are  not  to  be  tramelhd  by  frame-works  of  faith,  that 
men  have  invented;  without  any  regard  to  the  solemn  vows  which 
they  have  voluntarily  come  under,  they  publish  to  the  world  their 
unhallowed  speculations,  their  crude  and  undigested  theories. 
Instead  of  withdrawing  in  a  peaceable  and  orderly  manner  from 
a  church,  whose  formularies  they  have  never  honestly  adopted, 
they  remain  to  destroy  its  unity  and  interrupt  its  harmony.  Under 
the  name  and  cloak  of  Presbyterianism,  they  disseminate  senti- 
ments which  lead  directly  to  Arminianism,  Pelagianism  and  Soci- 
nianism.  These  are  the  men,  who,  in  our  judgment,  have  caused 
divisions  among  us,  for  we  are  a  divided  church,  as  really  divided 
as  though  we  were  called  by  different  names,  and  existed  under 
different  organization.  The  schism  has  come  already,  and  let 
those  men  who  have  come  into  our  church,  by  professing  to  re- 
ceive our  standards,  when,  in  fact,,  they  did  not  believe  them,  in 
their  plain  and  obvious  import,  answer  for  it,  for  they  are  its 
authors.  These  remarks,  it  is  painful,  exceedingly  painful,  for  us 
to  make,  but  we  are  persuaded  they  are  well  founded.  If  any 
think  them  severe,  it  is  our  conscientious  conviction,  it  is  only  the 
severity  of  trulhy 

This  address  contains  a  critical  and  just  exposition  of  Barnes' 
heresies,  incorporated  in  his  sermon  on  the  Way  of  Salvation,  in 
his  Notes  on  the  Epistle  to  the  Romans,  and  in  all  his  theological 
publications.  The  account  it  furnishes  of  his  errors  and  the  evi- 
dence against  them,  exhibited  in  his  trial  before  the  Presbytery 
of  Philadelphia,  and  in  the  laborious  and  faithful  investigation  of 
Dr.  Junkin,  in  his  memorable  prosecution  so  ably  conducted,  will 
be  handed  over  to  the  church  univers-al,  in  the  present  day,  and 
down  to  all  future  generations,  as  a  monument  of  Mr.  Barnes' 
rashness,  folly  and  guilt,  in  his  wide  and  numerous  departures 
from  the  faith  delivered  to  the  saints. 

Notwithstanding  the  New  School  influence  ultimately  brought 
to  operate  in  favour  of  Mr.  Barnes,  both  in  the  Presbytery  and 
Synod  of  Philadelphia,  so  extensively  as  to  exonerate  him  in  a 
great  measure  from  his  corruptions  in  doctrine,  fully  proved  on 
most  incontestible  evidence,  yet  the  predominant  party,  in  their 
triumph,  greatly  impaired  their  character  and  standing  in  public 
estimation,  so  as  to  facilitate  and  hasten  their  downfall. 

The  following  resolution,  presenting  the  doctrinal  question  in  a 
form  entirely  separate  from  all  matters  of  church  order,  was  in- 
troduced by  Dr.  Miller,  to  obtain  the  real  sense  of  the  house  m 
this  unembarrassed  manner,  on  the  charge  of  heresy,  viz: 

'^Resolved,  That  while  this  General  Assembly  has  thought 
proper  to  remove  the  sentence  of  suspension,  under  which  the- 
o 


210  OLD    SCHOOL    VINblCATElD. 

Rev.  Mr.  Barnes  was  placed,  by  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia,  yet 
the  judgnnenl  of  this  Assennbly  is,  that  Mr.  Barnes,  in  his  Notes  on 
the  Epistle  to  the  Romans,  has  published  opinions  nnaterially  at 
variance  with  the  Confession  of  Faith  of  the  Presbyterian  Church, 
and  with  the  word  of  God,  especially  with  regard  to  original  sin, 
the  relation  of  man  to  Adam,  and  justification  by  faith  in  the 
atoning  sacrifice  and  righteousness  of  the  Redeemer.  The  As- 
sembly consider  the  manner  in  which  Mr.  Barnes  has  controvert- 
ed the  language  and  doctrine  of  our  public  standards,  as  highly 
reprehensible,  and  as  adapted  to  pervert  the  minds  of  the  rising 
generation  from  the  simplicity  and  purity  of  the  gospel  plan.  And 
although  some  of  the  most  objectionable  statements  and  expres- 
sions which  a()peared  in  the  earlier  editions  of  the  work  in  ques- 
tion, have  been  either  removed,  or  so  far  modified  or  explained, 
as  to  render  them  more  in  accordance  with  our  public  formula- 
ries; still  the  Assembly  considers  the  work,  even  in  its  present 
amended  form,  as  containing  representations  which  cannot  be  re- 
conciled with  the  letter  or  spirit  of  our  public  standards;  and 
would  solemnly  admonish  Mr.  Barnes  again  to  review  his  work; 
to  modify  still  farther  the  statements  which  have  grieved  his 
brethren,  and  to  be  more  careful  in  time  to  come  to  study  the 
purity  and  peace  of  the  church." 

This  motion  was  rejected  by  a  vote  of  122  to  109.  The  deci- 
sion proves  the  existence  of  a  maiked  and  irreconcilable  opposi- 
tion in  fundamental  theological  sentiments  between  this  majority 
and  the  minority,  against  the  decision  of  the  Assembly.  On  this 
resolution,  the  following  protest  was,  presented,  signed  by  one 
hundred  leading  or  prominent  ministers  and  elders,  in  the  Presby- 
terian Church.  The  number  of  signatures  would  have  been  much 
larger,  had  not  the  Assembly  been  daily  diminished,  by  frequent 
applications  for  leave  of  absence.  The  protest  is  in  few  words, 
but  full  of  import,  from  the  pen  of  Dr.  Miller;  while  it  exhibits  the 
falseness  of  Mr.  Barnes,  it  shows  the  sentiments  of  the  Rev.  and 
venerated  writer  in  their  true  character. 

*'  Whereas,  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church, 
did  by  their  vote,  on  the  7th  instant,  reject  a  resolution,  disap- 
proving some  of  the  doctrinal  statements  contained  in  Barnes' 
Notes  on  the  Romans,  which  resolution,  especiall}'  under  the  pe- 
culiar circumstances  of  the  case,  the  uiidersigned  considered  of 
high  importance  t®  the  church  with  which  we  are  connected,  to 
the  cause  of  our  Lord  and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ,  and  to  the  just 
exhibition  of  His  grace  and  truth,  we,  whose  names  are  subscribed 
feel  constrained  in  the  name  of  the  great  Head  of  the  church, 
solemnly  to  protest  against  said  decision,  for  the  following  rea-- 
sons,  viz: 

1.  Because  we  believe  that  the  constitutional  standards  of  the 


OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED.  211 

church,  in  their  plain  and  obvious  meaning,  and  in  the  sense  in 
which  they  have  always  been  received,  are  tlie  rule  of  judgment 
by  wliich  all  doctrinal  controversies  are  to  be  decided;  that  it  is 
the  duty  of  the  church  to  maintain  inviolate  her  doctrine  and  or- 
der, agreeably  to  those  standards:  to  bear  her  decided  testimony' 
against  all  deviations  from  them,  and  not  to  countenance  them 
even  by  implication.  Yet  in  the  above  decision,  there  was,  we 
believe,  a  departure  from  our  constitutional  rule,  a  refusal  to  bear 
testimony  against  errors,  with  an  implied  approbation  of  them,- 
and  a  constructive  denial  that  ministers  of  the  gospel,  in  the  Pres- 
byterian Church,  are  under  solemn  obligations  to  conform  in  their 
doctrinal  sentiments,  to  our  Confession  of  Faith  and  Catechisms* 

"2.  Because  the  errors  contemplated  in  the  aforesaid  resolu- 
tion, do  not  consist  merely  nor  chiefly  in  inaccurate  or  ambigu- 
ous expressions  and  mistaken  illustrations,  but  in  sentiments  and 
opinions  respecting  the  great  and  important  doctrines  of  the  gos- 
pel, which  are  utterly  inconsistent  with  the  statement  of  those 
doctrines  made  in  the  Confession  of  Faith,  and  revealed  in  the 
word  of  God.  We  sincerely  and  firmly  believe,  that  Mr.  Barnes 
has  denied,  and  that  in  a  sneering  manner,  that  Adam  was  the 
covenant  head  of  the  huiYian  race  ;  that  all  mankind  sinned  in 
him  as  such,  and  v^'ere  thus  brought  under  the  penalty  of  trans- 
gression ;  that  Christ  suffered  the  penalty  of  the  law  when  he  died 
lor  sin,  and  that  the  righteousness  of  Christ  is  imputed  to  believers 
for  justification.  These  and  similar  doctrinal  views,  we  regard 
as  material  deviations  from  our  standards,  as  dangerous  in  them- 
selves and  as  contravening  some  of  the  leading  principles  of  our  sys- 
tem, such  as  man's  complete  dependence  and  the  perfect  harmo- 
ny of  justice  and  grace,  in  the  salvation  of  the  sinner. 

"  3.  Because  this  expression  of  approbation  of  his  opinions  was 
passed  after,  as  we  believe,  it  had  been  clearly  and  sufficiently 
proved  to  the  Assembly,  that  Mr.  Barnes  had  denied  these  im- 
portant truths,  and  had  expressed  opinions  respecting  original  sin, 
the  nature  of  faith  and  the  nature  of  justification,  which  cannot 
be  reconciled  with  our  standards;  and  after,  instead  of  retracting 
any  of  his  doctrinal  opinions,  he  had  declared  expressly  before 
the  Assembly,  and  published  in  the  preface  to  the  last  edition  of 
his  Notes  on  the  Romans,  that  he  had  not  changed,  but  held  them 
still,  and  was  determined  to  preach  them  till  he  died. 

"  For  these  reasons,  and  for  the  glory  of  God,  that  we  may  pre- 
serve a  conscience  void  of  offence,  we  request  that  this,  our 
solemn  protest,  may  be  entered  on  the  minutes  of  the  Assembly." 

As  this  protest,  in  connection  with  Dr.  Miller's  rejected  reso- 
lution, brings  the  truth  and  reality  of  Mr.  Barnes'  obstinate  and 
determined  violation  of  several  leading  and  fundamental  doctrines 
of  the  gospel,  and  of  the  fixed  purpose  of  the  New  School  party 


212  OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED. 

now  predominant  in  the  Assembly,  as  appears  from  the  vote  of  the 
house,  to  sustain  and  vindicate  him  in  his  false  doctrines,  it  is 
thought  highly  expedient  to  record  here  the  names  of  those  who 
had  signed  the  protest,  when  it  was  presented  to  the  Assembly,, 
that  the  church  and  the  world  may  see  what  kind  of  testimony 
stands  against  him  in  this  connexion,  viz  : 

W.  W.  Phillips,  J.  McEiroy,  James  Hoge,  Samuel  S.  Davis^ 
Francis  McFarland,  Joseph  Smith,  James  McCurdy,  Jacob  F. 
Price,  W.  L.  Breckinridge,  H.  M.  Koontz,  P.I.  Sparrow,  Robert 
Johnson,  Joseph  Harleson,  John  H.  Culbertson,  VV.  P.  Alrich,  J., 
S.  Wilson,  T.  C.  Stuart,  J.  McClintock,  Nathaniel  Tod,  Alex'r  R. 
Curry,  Geo.  Anderson,  James  McFarren,  John  Banin,  John  M.  C 
Bartly,  Sam'l  McQuestiu,  Wm.  James,  Ananias  Piatt,  Duncan 
LMcMartin,  Edwin  JJowner,  H.  M.  Hopkins,  James  V,  Henry, 
Russel  I.  Minor,  Wm.  Marshall,  James  Lenox,  Samuel  Boyd,  Wo. 
Wallace,  (N.  Y.)  Sam'l  Miller,  B.  Ogden,  James  Seabrook,  Jacob 
Castner,  Joseph  Campbell,  James  Kennedy,  John  Stinson,  Samuel 
Henderson,  I.  Coulter,  Joel  Stoneroad,  N.  Ewing,  James  Alexan- 
der, Jos.  D.  Ray,  Rob't  Highlands,  John  Miller,  L  Eaton,  Rob't 
Porter,  Jos.  McFarren,  C.  Valandingham,  Alex'r  Write,  R.  John- 
son, James  Wilson,  E,  Rowland,  Archibald  Hanna,  Jno.  Elliot, 
W.  Wallace,  (Lon.)  Rob't  Smith,  J.  S.  Galloway,  S.  Scovil,  B.E. 
Swan,  G.  Bishop,  Wm.  Dun,  M.  G.  Wallace,  J.  S.  Weaver,  S. 
Donnell,  B.  F.  Spilman,  W.  A.  S.  Posey,  J.  S.  Berryman,  D.  S. 
Tod,  Lewis  Collins,  W.  Williamson,  James  Wharey,  John  Mc- 
Elhenney,  Thos.  Baird,  E.  W.  Careslhans,  Arch'd  JVlcCallum,  R. 
H.  Kilpatrick,  J.  S.  McCutchan,  F.  A.  Ogden,  A.  A.  Campbell, 
I.  Ingram,  S.  B.  Luvers,  J.  J^e  Roy  Davies,  Thos.  L.  Dunlap,  Eu- 
genius  A.  Nesbit,  G.  T.  Snowden,  Horace  S.  Pratt,  John  H.  Van- 
court,  F.  H,  Porter,  Thos.  R.  Borden,  T.  C.  Stuart,  John  R. 
Hutchinson,  D.  Morrow,  J.  H.  Gray. 

If  the  history  of  this  melancholy  transaction  could  stop  here,  it 
would  be  a  happy  pause  for  the  honor  of  poor  fallen  man,  and  es- 
pecially for  the  christian  ministry;  but  the  truth  must  be  told.  A 
paper  was  presented  to  the  Assembly,  professing  to  be  an  answer 
to  the  above  protest,  prepared  by  Drs.  Skinner  and  Allen,  togeth- 
er with  Mr.  Brainerd,  and  recorded  on  the  minutes.  When  the 
motion  was  made  to  insert  it  there,  an  excellent  member  from  the 
South  remarked,  that  we  might  as  well  say  white  was  black. 
But  the  facts  of  the  case  being  already  quite  fully  before  the  read- 
er, no  comment  is  necessary ;  the  paper  will  proclaim  its  own 
unhappy  character.     The  signers  to  it  say : 

"  1.  That  by  their  decision  they  do  not  intend  to,  and  do  not, 
in  fact,  make  themselves  responsible  for  all  the  phraseology  of 
Mr.  Barnes,  some  of  which  is  not  sufficiently  guarded,  and  is  lia- 
ble to  be  misuaderstood,  and  which  we  doubt  not  Mr.  Barnes^ 


OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED.  213 

wifh  reference  to  his  usefulriess  and  the  peace  of  the  church,  will 
naodify  so  as  to  prevent,  as  far  as  n:iay  be,  the  possil)iHty  of  mis- 
conception." It  is  painful  to  believe  it,  and  yet  such  is  the  fact, 
as  is  well  known  to  all  who  were  in  the  Assembly,  that  Dr.  Skin- 
ner, the  chairman  who  presented  this  paper,  did  identify  himself 
with  Mr.  Barnes,  and  declaied,  "  that  no  man  could  have  more 
accurately  expressed  his  own  sentiments;  that  he  fairly  repre- 
sented ihe  New  School  brethren;  that  if  Mr.  Barnes  were  con- 
demned, they  would  be  condemned."  Dr.  Peters  declared  that 
he  not  only  approved  of  the  doctrines,  but  of  the  language  em- 
ployed by  Mr.  Ijarnes.  "  When  I  heard,"  said  he,*'of  the  sentence 
of  his  suspension,  1  regarded  it  as  a  blow  struck  at  one  half  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church;  I  shall  not  vote  to  restore  him  on  the 
ground  of  toleration ;  he  has  a  right  to  be  a  minister  in  our  con- 
nexion; if  anyone  is  to  be  tolerated,  it  is  the  prosecutor.  Yes 
sir,  the  lime  has  come  when  the  question  is,  whether  such  men 
are  to  be  tolerated  in  the  Presbyterian  Church!  No  sir,  I  do  not 
even  condemn  his  (Barnes')  indiscretions.  It  is  time  to  have  the 
question  settled,"  (it  has  since  been  settled,  quite  decisively,) 
^'whether  in  this  nineteenth  century  we  may  exercise  the  liberty 
of  using  language  adapted  to  the  age!"  And  yet,  after  such  ex- 
pressions as  these,  {and  this  is  a  fair  sample)  these  men  have  the 
audacity  to  place  on  their  records,  which  they  knew  would  meet 
the  public  eye,  "  that  they  do  not  intend  to,  and  do  not  make  them- 
selves responsible  for  Mr.  Barnes'  phraseology,"  &c.,  &c.,  and  they 
proceed  to  say: 

"  2,  Much  less  do  the  Assembly  adopt  as  doctrines  consistent 
with  our  standards,  and  to  be  tolerated  in  our  church,  the  errors 
alleged  by  the  prosecutor,  as  contained  in  the  book  on  the  Ro- 
mans. It  was  a  question  of  fact,  whether  the  errors  alleged  are 
c6ntained  in  the  book;  and  by  the  laws  of  exposition,  in  consci- 
entious exercise  of  their  own  rights  and  duties,  the  Assembly  have 
come  to  the  conclusion  that  the  book  does  not  teach  the  errors 
charged."  Wonderful!  They  were  slow  in  coming  to  that 
conclusion,  and  better  for  them  had  they  never  pretended  to  at  all. 

Thus  every  kind  of  denial,  perversion  and  subteifuge,  is  resort- 
ed to  by  them  to  conceal  their  obliquities,  and  if  it  were  possible, 
to  recover  public  confidence.  But  it  is  too  late;  their  falseness  is 
so  glaring  and  manifold  that  it  cannot  be  covered  over.  And 
they  allow  their  errors  and  attempted  frauds  and  impositions,  no 
chance  to  escape  detection  ;  for  in  every  meeting,  in  their  speech- 
es, their  public  transactions,  they  never  fail  to  ensure  their  re- 
newed enactment  and  condemnation,  by  endeavouring,  as  in  the 
case  now  under  review,  to  make  the  worse  the  better  prove;  to 
clothe  palpable  falsehood  and  error  in  the  habiliments  of  truth. 

The  following  is  a  specimen  of  the  language  of  the  Christian 


214  OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED. 

Examiner,  (a  leading  Unitarian  paper,)  for  Marcii,  1836,  page 
09,  concurring  with  the  orthodox  opinion  on  this  point,  in  regard 
to  the  New  School.  "  On  the  atonement,  our  author's  (Mr.  Barnes') 
views  are  far  in  advance  of  those  of  the  church  to  which  he  be- 
longs. Though  he  maintains  that  Christ  was,  in  some  sense,  'a 
substitute  in  the  place  of  sinners,'  he  denies  a  strictly  and  fully 
vicarious  atonement,  and  makes  the  Saviour's  denlh  important 
chieflv  as  an  illustration  of  the  inherent  and  essential  connexion 
between  sin  and  suffering.** 

Again,  pnge  70,  "On  the  subject  of  man's  nature,  capacities, 
and  duty,  our  author  is  sound  and  lucid.  The  idea  of  hereditary 
depravity  he  spurns,  as  unworthy  even  a  passing  notice.  He  as- 
serts repeatedly,  that  men  sin  only  *  i/i  their  own  persons,  sin 
themselves,  as,  indeed,  how  can  they  si7i,  in  any  other  way'?'  The 
imputation  of  Adam's  transgression,  he  treats  as  a  scholastic 
absurdity.  Of  the  figment  of  Adam's  federal  headship,  and  the 
condemnation  of  his  posterity  for  partnership  in  his  sin,  Mv.  Barnes 
says, 'there  is  not  one  word  of  it  in  the  Bible.'  It  is  a  mere 
philosophical  theory,  an  introduction  of  a  speculation  into  theology 
with  an  attempt  to  explain  what  the  Bible  has  left  unexplained." 
How  gratifying  it  must  be  to  the  pride  and  ambition,  to  the 
talents,  learning,  moral  purity,  and  devotion  of  Mr.  Barnes  and 
all  his  sympathizers,  to  be  thus  eulogized  and  commended,  or 
shall  we  rather  say,  held  up  sarcastically  to  the  derision  and  con- 
tumelv  of  an  indignant  public  by  such  men  as  the  Unitarians ! 

Hear  the  Unitarian  brethren  of  the  New  School  type  again: 
"In  conclusion,  w^e  would  say,  that  while  our  orthodox  brethren 
publish  and  circulate,  and  receive  with  favour,  such  books  as 
these  '  Notes,*  we  most  cordially  extend  to  them  the  right  hand  of 
fellowship,  even  though  they  refuse  to  return  it.  Wc  regard  them 
as  fellow-labourers  with  us  for  the  overthrow  of  time-hallowed 
absurdities,  for  the  cleansing  of  the  Christian  creed  'from  what- 
ever defileth  and  maketh  a  lie.'  "  This  must  be,  to  the  New 
School,  cheering  language,  coming,  as  it  does,  from  one  of  the 
most  infidel,  polluted,  and  corrupting  sources  in  our  degenerate 
world. 

As  an  instance  of  the  most  glaring  artifice,  we  recite  the  following 
resolution  of  the  majority  in  the  last  x\ssembty.  After  labouring, 
for  many  days,  by  every  means  they  could  invent  and  employ,  to 
screen  Mr.  Barnes,  to  throw  censure  and  reproach  upon  orthodox 
men,  and  sound  judicatoiies,  to  sustain  and  confirm  in  the  church 
heretical  sentiments  and  disorganizing  measures,  and  discovering 
that  the  public  could  not  be  blinded  in  regard  to  these  palpable 
acts  of  dishonesty  and  corruption,  they  fabricate  and  adopt,  as  a 
last  resort  in  this  connexion,  the  following  revolting  declaration, 
\vhich  excited,  at  the  time  of  its  passage,  inexpressible  astonish-. 


OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED.  215 

rnent  and  grief,  to  all  who  heard  it,  or  have  been  heard  to  speak 
of  it,  viz:  "So  far  is  the  Assembly  from  countenancing  the  errors 
alleged  in  the  charges  of  Dr.  Junkin,  that  they  do  cordially  and 
ex  animo,  adopt  the  Confession  of  our  church,  on  the  points  of 
doctrine  in  question,  according  to  the  obvious  and  most  prevalent 
interpretation;  and  do  regard  it  as  a  whole,  as  the  best  epitome 
of  the  doctrines  of  the  Bible  ever  formed.  And  this  Assembly 
disavows  any  desire,  and  would  deprecate  any  attempt,  to  change 
the  phraseology  of  our  standards,  and' would  disapprove  of  any 
language  of  light  estimation  applied  to  them ;  believing  that  no 
denomination  can  prospei-  whose  members  permit  themselves  to 
speak  slightly  of  its  formularies  of  doctrine,  and  are  ready  to 
unite  with  their  brethren  in  contending  earnestly  for  the  faith  of 
our  standards."  Here  we  are  compelled  to  pause  in  amazement, 
not  knowing  which  to  admire  most,  the  fabricators  or  their  fiction. 
On  reviewing  the  course  of  Mr.  Barnes'  sympathizers  and  advo- 
cates, the  history  of  which  is  before  us  on  the  preceding  pages, 
for  several  years,  the  following  facts  appear:  1.  They  admit  that 
he  used  the  language  and  uttered  the  sentiments  alleged.  2.  They 
refused  to  censure  either  himself  or  his  heretical  sentiments,  or  to 
bear  testimony  against  them,  or  any  errors  akin  to  them  at  all. 
3.  They  adopted  and  approved  his  peculiar  and  heretical  terms, 
identifying  themselves  and  declaring  their  amalgamation  with  him 
in  his  unsound  course  of  exposition  and  remark  on  the  word  of 
God,  and  the  standards  of  the  church.  4.  They  deny  altogether 
that  Barnes'  language  teaches  heresy,  or  deviates  from  the  fair, 
usual,  and  honest  expression  of  the  Confession  and  Catechisms  of 
the  church.  Fifthly,  and  finally,  they  profess,  without  proposing 
the  slightest  alteration  in  their  past  declarations,  to  adopt  the 
Confession  of  our  church  as  it  stands,  ex  animo,  to  laud  its 
phraseology,  its  high  and  exalted  pre-eminent  standing  among 
the  formularies  of  past  ages  and  the  present  time.  Now,  is  it 
wonderful  that  these  men,  as  a  body,  should  have  forfeited  the 
confidence  of  both  the  church  and  the  world  ?  that  they  should  be 
considered  unreliable  and  desperate  in  their  public  course,  striving 
to  sustain  themselves,  and  to  buoy  up  their  prostrate  and  ruined- 
reputation,  by  fraudulently  forcing  under  it,  a  foundation  of  disso- 
lution and  rottenness?  Ought  it  to  be  surprising,  if  the  great  mass 
of  Presbyterian  ministers  and  people,  of  a  totally  difierent  faith 
and  spirit,  the  standards  of  our  church  being  the  touch-stone,  after 
being  compelled,  with  painful  conflicts  and  lamentations,  to  asso- 
ciate in  trials,  in  business,  in  responsibilities,  for  many  years, 
without  a  possibility  of  deliverance,  that  they  should  now  feel  the 
urgent  necessity  of  throwing  off  this  humiliating,  burdensome,  and 
inosi  painful  connexion  ?    How  could  it  be  otherwise  I    Are  our 


216  OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED. 

lives  to  be  unceasingly  vexed,  and  finally  worn  out,  in  perpetual 
strife  and  suffering! 

The  address  of  the  Pittsburgh  committee,  published  at  New 
York,  1836,  on  the  missionary  question,  is  able  and  conclusive. 
But  having  already  filled  several  pages  with  this  interesting  dis- 
cussion, and  placed  the  subject  in  as  clear  a  light  as  was  found 
practicable,  we  do  not  think  it  is  necessary  to  add  any  thing  to 
what  is  already  written  upon  this  subject. 


CHAPTER   XVIII. 

The  Convention  of  Ministers  and  Elders  which  met  in  Philadelphia  before 
the  Assembly  of  1837 — The  Testimony  and  Memorial  presented  to  them, 
and  their  Memorial  and  Address  to  the  Assembly  based  upon  them — 
Committee  appointed  on  this  Memorial. 

The  convention  of  Presbyterian  ministers  and  ruling  elders,  re- 
commended by  the  committee  appointed  by  the  minority  of  the 
last  General  Assembly,  met  agreeably  to  appointment  in  the  Sixth 
Presbyterian  Church,  May  11th,  1887,  immediately  preceding  the 
Assembly. 

The  roll  embraced  one  hundred  and  twenty-six,  from  every 
part  of  the  Presbyterian  Church.  This  number  was  augmented 
by  new  accessions,  and  the  Rev.  George  A.  Baxter,  of  Virginia, 
was  chosen  President. 

The  convention  met  frequently,  and  sometimes  even  during  the 
session  of  the  General  Assembly.  The  condition,  dangers,  and 
prospects  of  the  church  were  solemnly  and  ably  discussed,  after 
which,  and  on  the  most  mature  and  deliberate  consideration,  the 
following  document  was  adopted  and  presented  to  the  General 
Assembly. 

"  Testimony  and  Memorial. 

"  When  any  portion  of  the  Church  of  Jesus  Christ  is  called  in 
his  providence  to  take  a  step  which  may  materially  affect  their 
Master's  cause,  and  influence  for  good  or  ill  the  destinies  of  large 
portions  of  mankind  through  successive  generations,  it  is  a  very 
plain,  as  well  as  solemn  duty,  to  state  clearly  the  reasons  of  their 
conduct,  the  evils  of  which  they  complain,  the  objects  at  which 
they  aim,  and  the  remedies  which  they  propose.  This  convention, 
consisting  of  one  hundred  and  twenty-four  members,  of  whom  one 
hundred  and  twelve  are  delegated  by  fifty-four  Presbyteries,  and 


OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED.  217 

twelve  by  minorities  in  eight  other  Presbyteries,  all  of  which 
members  are  ministers  or  ruling  elders  of  the  Presbyterian  Church 
in  the  United  States  of  America,  after  mature  deliberation,  full 
consultation  with  each  other,  and  earnest  prayer  to  God  for  di- 
rection, have  agreed  on  the  following  memorial,  and  do  hereby 
respectfully  lay  it  before  the  General  Assembly  now  in  session, 
and  through  it  before  all  the  churches  and  the  whole  world,  as 
our  solemn,  and,  as  we  trust,  effective  Testimony  against  evils 
which  faithfulness  to  God,  and  to  the  world,  will  no  longer  permit 
us  to  endure. 

"  That  we  have  not  been  rash  and  hasty,  nor  manifested  a  fac- 
tious opposition  to  errors  and  disorders,  which  were  only  of  small 
extent  or  recent  introduction,  is  manifestly  proven  by  the  fact  that 
these  evils  have  been  insidiously  spreading  through  our  church  for 
many  years,  and  that  they  have  at  length  become  so  mature  and 
so  diffused,  as  not  only  to  pervade  large  portions  of  the  church, 
but  to  reign  triumphantly  over  the  body  itself,  through  successive 
General  Assemblies.  On  the  other  hand,  that  we  have  not  been 
wholly  faithless  to  our  Master  and  to  truth,  we  appeal  to  the  con- 
stant efforts  of  some  through  the  press  and  pulpit ;  to  the  firm  and 
consistent  course  of  some  of  our  Presbyteries  and  Synods;  to  the 
faithful  conduct  of  the  minorities  in  the  Assemblies  of  1831,  2,  3, 
4,  and  6;  to  the  Act  and  Testimony;  to  the  proceedings  of  the 
conventions  of  Cincinnati  in  1831,  and  Pittsburgh  in  1835,  and  to 
the  noble  Assembly  of  1835. 

"  We  contend  especially  and  above  all  for  the  truth,  as  it  is 
made  known  to  us  of  God,  for  the  salvation  of  men.  We  contend 
for  nothing  else,  except  as  the  result  or  support  of  this  inestimable 
treasure.  It  is  because  this  is  subverted  that  we  grieve;  it  is  be- 
cause our  standards  teach  it,  that  we  bewail  their  perversion;  it 
is  because  our  church  order  and  discipline  preserve,  defend,  and 
diffuse  it,  that  we  weep  over  their  impending  ruin.  It  is  against 
ei'ror  that  we  emphatically  bear  our  testimony ;  error,  dangerous 
to  the  souls  of  men,  dishonouring  to  Jesus  Christ,  contrary  to  his 
revealed  truth,  and  utterly  at  variance  with  our  standards.  Error, 
not  as  it  may  be  freely  and  openly  held  by  others,  in  this  age  and 
land  of  absolute  religious  freedom  :  but  error,  held  and  taught  in 
the  Presbyterian  Church,  preached  and  written  by  persons  who 
profess  to  receive  and  adopt  our  Scriptural  standards;  promoted 
by  societies  operating  widely  through  our  churches;  reduced  into 
form,  and  openly  embraced  by  almost  entire  Presbyteries  and 
Synods;  favoured  by  repeated  acts  of  successive  General  Assem- 
blies, and  at  last  virtually  sanctioned  to  an  alarming  extent  by  the 
numerous  Assembly  of  1836. 

"  To  be  more  specific,  we  hereby  set  forth  in  order,  some  of  the 
doctrinal  errors  against  which  we  bear  testimony,  and  which  we 


218  OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED. 

and  the  churches  have  conclusive  proof,  are  widely  disseminated 
in  the  Presbyterian  Church. 

"  In  relation  to  Doctrine. 

"1.  That  God  would  have  been  glad  to  prevent  the  existence 
of  sin  in  our  world,  but  was  not  able,  without  destroying  the  nnoral 
agency  of  man;  or,  that  for  aught  that  appears  in  the  Bible  to  the 
contrary,  sin  is  incidental  to  any  wise  moral  system. 

"2.  That  election  to  eternal  life  is  founded  on  a  foresight  of 
faith  and  obedience. 

"  3.  That  we  have  no  more  to  do  with  the  first  sin  of  Adam 
than  with  the  sins  of  any  other  parent. 

"4.  That  infants  come  into  the  world  as  free  from  moral  de- 
filement as  was  Adam,  when  he  was  created. 

"  5.  That  infants  sustain  the  same  relation  to  the  moral  govern- 
inent  of  God  in  this  world  as  brute  animals,  and  that  their  suflfer- 
ings  and  death  are  to  be  accounted  for,  on  the  same  principles  as 
tiiose  of  brutes,  and  not  by  any  means  to  be  considered  as  penal. 

"G.  That  there  is  no  other  original  sin  than  the  fact  that  all  the 
posterity  of  Adam,  though  by  nature  innocent,  or  possessed  of  no 
moral  character,  will  always  begin  to  sin  when  they  begin  to  ex- 
ercise moral  agency ;  that  original  sin  does  not  include  a  sinful 
bias  of  the  human  mind,  and  a  just  exposure  to  penal  suffering; 
and  that  there  is  no  evidence  in  IScripture,  that  infants,  in  order 
to  salvation,  do  need  redemption  by  the  blood  of  Christ,  and  re- 
generation by  the  Holy  Ghost. 

"7.  That  the  doctrine  of  imputation,  whether  of  the  guilt  of 
Adam's  sin,  or  of  the  righteousness  of  Christ,  has  no  foundation 
in  the  word  of  God,  and  is  both  unjust  and  absurd. 

"8.  That  the  sufferings  and  death  of  Christ  were  not  truly  vi- 
carious and  penal,  but  symbolical,  governmental,  and  instructive 
only. 

"9.  That  the  impenitent  sinner  is  by  nature,  and  independently 
of  the  renewing  influence  or  almighty  energy  of  the  Holy  Spirit, 
in  full  possession  of  all  the  ability  necessary  to  a  full  compliance 
with  all  the  commands  of  God. 

"  10.  That  Christ  never  intercedes  for  any  but  those  who  are 
actually  united  to  him  by  faith;  or  that  Christ  does  not  intercede 
for  the  elect  until  after  their  regeneration. 

"II.  That  saving  faith  is  the  mere  belief  of  the  word  of  God, 
and  not  a  grace  of  the  Holy  Spirit. 

"  12.  That  regeneration  is  the  act  of  the  sinner  himself,  and 
that  it  consists  in  a  change  of  his  governing  purpose,  which  he 
himself  must  produce,  and  which  is  the  result,  not  of  any  direct 
influence  of  the  Holy  Spirit  on  the  heart,  but  chiefly  of  a  per- 
suasive exhibition  of  the  truth  analogous  to  the  influence  which 


OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED.  219 

one  man  exerts  over  the  mind  of  another;  or  that  regeneration  is 
not  an  instantaneous  act,  but  a  progressive  work. 

"  13.  That  God  has  done  all  that  he  can  do  for  the  salvation  of 
all  men,  and  that  man  himself  must  do  the  rest. 

"  14.  That  God  cannot  exert  such  influence  on  the  minds  of 
men,  as  shall  make  it  certain  that  they  will  choose  and  act  in  a 
particular  manner,  without  impairing  their  moral  agency, 

*'  15.  That  the  righteousness  of  Christ  is  not  the  sole  ground  of 
the  sinner's  acceptance  with  God  ;  and  that  in  no  sense  does  the 
righteousness  of  Christ  become  ours. 

"  16.  That  the  reason  why  some  differ  from  others  in  regard 
to  their  reception  of  the  gospel  is,  that  they  make  themselves  to 
differ. 

"  It  is  impossible  to  contemplate  these  errors  without  perceiving 
that  they  strike  at  the  foundation  of  the  system  of  gospel  grace; 
and  that,  from  the  days  of  Pelagius  and  Cassian  to  the  present 
hour,  their  reception  has  uniformly  marked  the  character  of  a 
church  apostatizing  from  'the  faith  once  delivered  to  the  saints/ 
and  sinking  into  deplorable  corruption.  To  bear  a  public  and 
open  testimony  against  them,  and  as  far  as  possible  to  banish 
them  from  the  'household  of  faith,'  is  a  duty  which  the  Presbyte- 
rian Church  owes  to  her  Master  in  heaven,  and  without  which  it 
is  impossible  to  fulfil  the  great  purpose  for  which  she  was  founded 
by  her  divine  Head  and  Lord.  And  this  Convention  is  conscious 
that  in  pronouncing  these  errors  unscriptural,  radical,  and  highly 
dangerous,  it  is  actuated  by  no  feeling  of  party  zeal,  but  by  a  firm 
and  growing  persuasion  that  such  errors  cannot  fail  in  their  ulti- 
mate effect,  to  subvert  the  foundation  of  Christian  hope,  and  de- 
stroy the  souls  of  men.  The  watchmen  on  the  walls  of  Zion 
would  be  traitors  to  the  trust  reposed  in  them,  were  they  not  to 
cry  aloud,  and  proclaim  a  solemn  warning  against  opinions  so 
corrupt  and  delusive. 

"  In  rehition  to  Church.  Order. 

"  Believing  the  Presbyterian  form  of  government  to  be  that  in- 
stituted by  the  inspired  apostles  of  the  Lord,  in  the  early  churchy 
and  sanctioned,  if  not  commanded,  in  the  scattered  notices  con^ 
tained  in  the  New  Testament,  on  the  general  subject,  our  hearts 
cling  to  it  as  to  that  order  approved  by  revelation  of  God,  and 
made  manifest  by  long  experience,  as  the  best  method  of  pre- 
serving and  spreading  his  truth.  When  that  truth  is  in  danger, 
we  hold  but  the  more  steadfastly  to  our  distinctive  church  order, 
as  affording  the  best  method  of  detecting  and  vanquishing  error. 
That  any  form  of  administration  should  totally  prevent  evil,  is 
manifestly  impossible  while  men  continue  as  they  are;  and  it  is 
no  small  praise  to  the  institutions  of  our  church,  that  they  so 


220  OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED. 

nearly  reach  this  result,  as  to  be  incapable  of  regular  action  in 
the  hands  of  those  who  are  themselves  corrupt.  They  live  with 
and  for  the  truth ;  to  spread  error,  ihey  must  be  perverted  ;  and 
before  a  general  apostacy,  Presbyterian  order  must  always  perish. 

"  Thus  it  has  been  in  these  evil  limes.  Abundant  proof  is  be- 
fore this  convention,  and  indeed  befoie  the  whole  world,  that  the 
principles  of  our  system  have  been  universally  departed  from,  by 
those  who  have  departed  from  our  faith  ;  and  thai  generally  that 
has  been  done  with  equal  steps.  Or  if,  as  there  is  reason  to  fear, 
some  portions  of  the  church  still  hold  the  external  form  of  Presby- 
terianism,  and  deny  the  power  of  its  sacred  doctrines,  they  are 
those  only,  who,  in  attaching  themselves  to  us,  have  either  evaded 
subscription  to  our  creed,  or  subscribed  without  believing  it.  It 
is  enough  that  any  system  should  exclude  honest  errorists,  and 
speedily  detect,  if  it  cannot  exclude,  those  who  are  o(he?nt)ise. 

"  Among  the  departures  from  sound  Presbyterian  order,  against 
which  we  feel  called  on  to  testify,  as  marking  the  times,  are  the 
following : 

"  1.  The  formation  of  Presbyteries  without  defined  and  reason- 
able limits,  or  Presbyteries  covering  the  same  territory,  and  es- 
pecially such  a  formation  founded  on  doctrinal  repulsions  or  affin- 
ities; thus  introducing  schism  into  the  very  vitals  of  the  body. 

"2.  The  refusal  of  Presbyteries,  when  requested  by  any  of 
their  members,  to  examine  all  af.plicants  for  admission  into  them, 
as  to  their  soundness  in  the  faith,  or  touching  any  other  matter 
connected  with  a  fair  Presbyterial  standing;  thus  concealing  and 
conniving  at  error,  in  the  very  strong  hold  of  truth. 

"  3.  The  licensing  of  persons  to  preach  the  gospel,  and  the  or- 
daining to  the  office  of  the  ministry  such  as  not  only  accept  of 
our  standards  merely  for  substance  of  doctrine,  and  others  who 
are  unfit  and  ought  to  be  excluded  for  want  of  qualification,  but 
of  many  even  who  openly  deny  fundamental  principles  of  truth, 
and  preach  and  publish  radical  errors  as  already  set  forth. 

"4.  The  formation  of  a  great  multitude  and  variety  of  creeds 
which  are  often  incomfjlete,  false,  and  contradictory  of  each  other, 
and  of  our  Confession  of  Faith  and  the  Bible;  but  which  even  if 
true  are  needless,  seeing  that  the  public  and  authorized  standards 
of  the  church  are  fully  sufficient  for  the  purposes  for  which  such 
formularies  were  introduced,  namely,  as  public  testimonies  of  our 
faith  and  practice,  as  aids  to  the  teaching  of  the  people  truth  and 
righteousness,  and  as  instruments  for  ascertaining  and  preserving 
the  unity  of  the  Spirit  in  the  bonds  of  peace;  it  being  understood 
that  we  do  not  object  to  the  use  of  a  brief  abstract  of  the  doc- 
trines of  our  Confession  of  Faith,  in  the  public  reception  of  private 
members  of  the  church. 

"  5.  The  needless  ordination  of  a  multitude  of  men  to  the  office 


OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED.  221 

of  evangelist,  and  the  consequent  tendency  to  a  general  neglect  of 
the  pastoral  office;  frequent  and  hurtful  changes  of  pastoral  rela- 
tions; to  the  multiplication  of  spurious  excitements,  and  the  con- 
sequent spread  of  heresy  and  fanaticism,  thus  weakening  and 
bringing  into  contempt  the  ordinary  and  stated  agents  and  means, 
for  the  conversion  of  sinners,  and  the  edification  of  the  body  of 
Christ. 

"  6.  The  disuse  of  the  office  of  ruling  elder  in  portions  of  the 
church,  and  the  consequent  growth  of  practices  and  principles 
entirely  foreign  to  our  system  ;  thus  depriving  the  pastors  of  need- 
ful assistants  in  discipline,  the  people  of  proper  guides  in  Christ, 
and  the  churches  of  suitable  representatives  in  the  ecclesiastical 
tribunals. 

"1.  The  electing  and  ordaining  ruling  elders,  with  the  express 
understanding  that  ihey  are  to  serve  but  for  a  limited  time. 

"8.  A  progressive  change  in  the  system  of  Presbyterial  repre- 
sentation in  the  General  Assembly,  which  has  been  persisted  in  by 
those  holding  the  ordinary  majorities,  and  carried  out  into  detail 
by  those  disposed  to  take  undue  advantage  of  existing  opportuni- 
ties, until  the  actual  representation  seldom  exhibits  the  true  state 
of  the  church,  and  many  questions  of  the  deepest  interest  have- 
been  decided  contrary  to  the  fairly  ascertained  wishes  of  the  ma- 
jority of  the  church  and  people  in  our  communion  ;  thus  virtually 
subverting  the  essential  principles  of  freedom,,  justice,  and  equality, 
on  which  our  whole  system  rests. 

"  9.  The  unlimited  and  irresponsible  power  assumed  by  several 
associations  of  men  under  various  names,  to  exercise  authority 
and  influence,  direct  and  indirect,,  over  Presbyters,  as  to  their 
field  of  labour,  place  of  residence,  and  mode  of  action  in  the  diffi- 
cult circumstances  of  our  church;;  thus  actually  throwing  the 
control  of  afl^airs  in  large  portions  of  the  church,  and  sometimes 
in  the  General  Assembly  itself,  out  of  the  hands  of  the  Presbyte- 
ries into  those  of  single  individuals  or  small  committees  located  at 
a  distance. 

"  10.  The  unconstitutional  decisions  and  violent  proceedings  of 
several  General  Assemblies,  and  especially  those  of  1831,  2,  3,  4, 
and  6,  directly  or  indirectly  subverting  some  of  the  fundamental 
principles  of  Presbyterian  government,  effectually  discountenanc- 
ing discipline,  if  not  rendering  it  impossible,  and  plainly  conniving 
at  and  favouring,  if  not  virtually  affirming  as  true,  the  whole  cur- 
rent of  false  doctrine  which  has  been  for  years  settit)g  into  our 
church,  thus  making  the  church  \{se\{  a  principal  actor  in  its  own 
dissolution  and  ruin. 

*^  In  Relation  to  Discipline. 
"  That  a  slate  of  affairs  even  approaching  to  that  over  which 


222  OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED. 

we  now  mourn,  should  obstruct  the  exercise  of  discipline,  may 
not  only  be  easily  supposed,  but  unhappily,  the  very  evils  which 
rendered  it  imperatively  necessary,  conspired  to  prevent  the  pos- 
sibility of  its  regular  exercise.  A  church  unsound  in  faith  is  ne- 
cessarily corrupt  in  practice.  Truth  is  in  order  to  godliness, 
and  when  it  ceases  to  make  us  pure,  it  is  no  longer  considered 
worthy  of  being  contended  for. 

"With  the  woeful  departures  from  sound  doctrine,  which  we 
have  already  pointed  out,  and  the  grievous  declensions  in  church 
order  heretofore  stated,  has  advanced  step  by  step,  the  ruin  of  all 
sound  discipline  in  large  portions  of  our  church,  until  in  some 
places  our  very  name  is  becoming  a  public  scandal,  and  the  pro- 
ceedings of  persons  and  churches  connected  with  some  of  our 
Presbyteries,  are  hardly  to  be  defended  from  the  accusation  of 
being  blasphemous.  Amongst  other  evils,  of  which  this  conven- 
tion and  the  church  have  full  proof,  we  specify  the  following: 

"  I.  The  impossibility  of  obtaining  a  plain  and  sufficient  sen- 
tence against  gross  errors,  either  in  thesi,  or  when  found  in  books 
printed  under  the  name  of  Presbyterian  ministers,  or  when  such 
ministers  have  been  directly  and  personally  charged. 

"2.  The  public  countenance  thus  given  to  error,  and  the  com- 
plete security  in  which  our  own  memt)ers  have  preached  and  pub- 
lished in  newspapers,  pamphlets,  periodicals  and  books,  things  ut- 
terly subversive  of  our  system  of  truth  and  order,  while  none 
thought  it  possible  (except  in  a  few,  and  they  almost  fruitless  at- 
tempts) that  discipline  could  be  exercised,  and  therefore  none  at- 
tempted it. 

"  3.  The  disorderly  and  unseasonable  meetings  of  the  people, 
in  which  unauthorized  and  incompetent  persons  conducted  worship 
in  a  manner  shocking  to  public  decency;  females  often  leading 
in  prayer  in  promiscuous  assemblies,  and  sometimes  in  public  in- 
struction ;  the  hasty  admission  to  church  privileges,  and  the  failure 
to  exercise  any  wholesome  discipline  over  those  who  subsequent- 
ly fall  into  sin,  even  of  a  public  and  scandalous  kind  ;  and  by  these 
and  other  disorders,  grieving  and  alienating  the  pious  members  of 
our  churches,  and  so  filling  many  of  them  with  rash,  ignorant  and 
unconverted  persons,  as  gradually  to  destroy  all  visible  distinction 
between  the  church  and  the  world. 

"4.  While  many  of  our  ministers  have  propagated  error  with 
great  zeal,  and  disturbed  the  church  with  irregular  and  disorder- 
ly conduct,  some  have  entirely  given  up  the  stated  preaching  of 
the  gospel,  others  have  turned  aside  to  secular  pursuits,  and  others 
still,  while  nominally  engaged  in  some  part  of  christian  effort, 
have  embarked  in  the  wild  and  extravagant  speculations  which 
have  so  remarkably  signalized  the  times,  thus  tending  to  secular- 
ize and  disorganize  the  very  ministry  of  reconciliation. 


OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED.  223 

"  5.  The  formation  in  the  bosom  of  our  churches  and  ecclesi- 
astical bodies,  of  parlies  ranged  against  each  other,  on  personal, 
doctrinal  and  other  questions,  strit'es  and  divisions  amongst  our 
people,  bitter  contentions  amongst  many  of  our  ministers,  a  gen- 
eral weakening  of  mutual  confidence  and  affection,  and,  in  some 
cases,  a  resort  to  measures  of  violence,  duplicity  and  injustice, 
totally  inconsistent  with  the  christian  name. 

"  Method  of  Reform. 
"  Such  being  the  state  of  things  in  the  Presbyterian  Church,  we 
believe  that  the  time  is  fully  come  for  the  adoption  of  some  mea- 
sures, which  shall  speedily  furnish  relief  from  the  evils  already  re- 
ferred to>  Under  this  conviction,  we  present  ourselves  respect- 
fully before  you,  praying  you  to  lose  no  lime,  in  so  adjusting  the 
important  matters  at  issue,  as  to  restore  at  once  purity  and  peace 
to  our  distracted  church.  We  are  obliged  to  record  our  most 
solemn  and  settled  belief,  that  the  elements  of  our  present  discord 
are  now  loo  numerous,  too  extensively  spread  and  essentially  op- 
posed, to  warrant  any  hope  that  they  can,  in  any  way,  be  com- 
posed, so  long  as  they  are  compressed  within  the  limits  of  our 
present  ecclesiastical  organization.  Mutual  confidence  is  gone, 
and  is  not  to  be  restored  by  any  temporizing  measures.  This  is  a 
sad,  but  a  plain  truth.  It  is  a  result  over  which  the  church  has  long 
mourned,  and  at  which  the  world  has  scofled,  but  for  the  production 
of  which  we,  and  those  who  agree  with  us,  cannot  hcjld  ourselves  re- 
sponsible, firmly  believing,  as  we  do,  ihat  we  are  in  this  contro- 
versy contending  for  the  plain  and  obvious  principles  of  Presbyte- 
rian doctrine  and  polity.  In  a  word,  it  needs  but  a  glance  at  the 
general  character,  ihe  personal  affinities,  and  the  geographical  re- 
Ifitions  of  those  who  are  antagonists  in  the  present  contest,  to  be 
satisfied  that  our  present  evils  have  not  originated  within,  but 
have  been  brought  from  without,  and  are,  in  a  great  degree,  the 
consequences  of  an  unnatural  intermixture  of  two  systems  of  ec- 
clesiastical action,  which  are  in  many  respects  entirely  opposite 
in  their  nature  and  operation.  Two  important  families  in  the 
great  christian  community,  who  might  have  lived  peacefully  under 
different  roofs,  and  maintained  a  friendly  intercourse  with  each 
other,  have  been  brought  beneath  the  same  roof,  and  yet  without 
an  entire  incorporation.  Contact  has  not  produced  real  union, 
except  in  a  comparatively  few  instances;  on  the  contrary,  origi- 
nal differences  of  opinions  and  prejudices,  in. relation  to  the  prin- 
ciples of  government  and  order,  in  many  points  of  great  practical 
moment,  have  for  a  number  of  years,  been  widening  instead  of 
narrowing,  and  those  who  would  have  been  friendly  as  neighbors, 
have  at  last,  by  being  forced  together  into  the  same  dwelling, 
after  many  and  painful  conflicts,  furnished  abundant  evidence  of 


IT 


224  OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED. 

the  necessity  of  some  effectual  remedy.  We  cannot  consent  to 
meet  any  longer  upon  the  floors  of  our  several  judicatories,  to 
contend  against  the  visible  inroads  of  a  system,  which,  whether 
so  designed  or  not,  is  crippling  our  energies,  and  which,  by  obvi- 
ous but  covert  advances,  meances  our  very  existence.  We  are 
in  danger  of  being  driven  out  from  the  home  of  our  childhood. 

"  While,  however,  we  complain  and  testify  against  the  opera- 
tions of  this  unnatural,  unwise  and  unconstitutional  alliance  just 
referred  to,  we  wish  it  to  be  distinctly  understood,  that  we  do  it 
chiefly  because  of  our  sincere  belief  that  the  doctrinal  purity  of 
our  ancient  Confession  of  Faith  is  endangered,  and  not  because  of 
the  preferences  we  have  for  a  particular  system  of  mere  church 
government  and  discipline.  We  hold  the  latter  to  be  important 
mainly  from  their  relation  to  the  former.  Hence,  we  wish  it  to 
be  distinctly  understood,  that  we  have  not,  nor  do  we  wish  to 
have,  any  controversy  with  the  system  of  congregational  church 
government  upon  its  own  territory.  Towards  the  churches  of 
New  England,  which  stand  fast  in  the  failh  once  delivered  to  the 
saints,  towards  the  distinguished  and  excellent  brethren  in  the 
Lord,  in  those  churches,  who  are  now  testifying  against  the  er- 
rors which  are  troubling  them,  as  they  are  troubling  us,  we 
entertain  the  most  fraternal  esteem  and  afl^ection.  Let  there  be 
no  strife  between  us,  and  there  will  be  none,  so  long  as  there  is 
no  eflbrt  made  by  either  body  to  intrude  upon  the  domestic  con- 
cerns of  the  other.  We  want  no  more  than  to  be  allowed  the 
fair  and  unimpeded  action  of  our  own  ecclesiastical  principles. 
We  desire  to  stand  upon  our  own  responsibility,  and  not  to  be 
made  involuntary  sharers  in  the  responsibility  of  other  bodies  and 
systems  of  action,  with  which  we  cannot  entirely  harmonize.  We 
desire  to  perform  our  Master's  work  upon  principles  which  we 
prefer,  because  they  are  the  first  principles  of  our  own  ecclesias- 
tical system  of  government,  recognizing  at  every  step  the  proprie- 
ty and  necessity  of  responsibility,  and  refusing  to  commit  to  any 
man,  or  body  of  men,  large  and  important  trusts,  without  the  right 
of  review,  control,  and  if  needs  be,  speedy  correction. 

"  These  being  our  views,  we  earnestly  urge  upon  the  attention  of 
the  Assembly,  the  following  items  of  reform  : 

"  1.  While  we  wish  to  maintain  as  heretofore,  a  friendly  cor- 
respondence and  interchange  of  annual  visits,  with  the  evangeli- 
cal associations  of  New  England,  we  are  anxiously  looking  to  the 
General  Assembly,  in  the  hope  and  belief  that  it  will  take  into  im- 
mediate consideration  the  plan  of  union  adopted  by  the  Assembly 
of  1801,  (See  Digest,  p.  297,  298)  and  that  it  will  perceive  in  the 
original  unconstitutionality  and  present  pernicious  operations  of 
that  plan,  reasons  for  its  immedinte  abrogation. 

"  2.  While  we  desire  that  no  body  of  Christian  men  of  other 


OLD    SCHOOL    V1\D»CATED.  225 

denominations,  should  be  prevented  fronn  choosing  their  own  plans 
of  doing  good ;  and  while  we  claim  no  right  to  complain  should  they 
exceed  us  in  energy  and  zeal,  we  believe  that  facts  too  familiar  to 
need  repetition  here,  warrant  us  in  affirming  that  the  organization 
and  operations  of  the  so  called  American  Home  Missionary  So- 
ciety, and  American  Education  Society,  and  its  branches,  of 
whatever  name,  are  exceedingly  injurious  to  the  peace  and  purity 
of  the  Piesbyterian  Church.  We  recommend  accordingly,  that 
they  should  be  discountenanced,  and  their  operations,  as  far  as 
possible,  prevented,  within  our  ecclesiastical  limits. 

'*  3.  We  believe  that  every  Church,  Presbytery  or  Synod  now 
in  nominal  connextion  with  this  Assembly,  but  which  is  not 
organized  on  Presbyterian  principles,  sh«)uld  be  immediately 
brought  into  order,  dissolved,  or  disconnected  from  the  Presbyte- 
rian Church. 

"4.  We  believe  that  it  is  highly  important,  that,  at  the  present 
time,  Presbyteries  should  be  directed  to  examine  henceforward 
all  licentiates  and  ministers  applying  for  admission  from  other  de- 
nominations, on  the  subjects  of  theology  and  church  government, 
as  well  as  personal  piety  and  ministerial  qualifications,,  and  to  re- 
quire of  them  an  explicit  adoption  of  the  Confession  of  Faith  and 
Form  of  Government. 

"  5.  We  desire  that  immediate  measures  be  taken,  in  order  that- 
such  members  of  any  Presbytery  as  hold  any  of  the  errors,  or 
practice  any  of  the  disorders  now  testified  against,  may  be 
subjected  to  discipline;  that  such  Presbyteries  and  Synods  as 
tolerate  them,  may  be  cited  and  tried,  and  such  of  these  bodies  as^ 
are  believed  to  consist  chiefly  of  decidedly  unsound  or  disorderly 
members  may  be  separated  from  the  Presbyterian  Charch,  pro- 
vision being  made  at  the  same  time  for  the  re-union  of  orthodox 
churches,  private  members,  or  ministers,  who  may  be  found  in 
any  of  them,  with  other  convenient  bodies. 

"6.  As  these  are  times  of  high  and  dangerous  excitability  in 
the  public  mind,  when  imprudent  or  partisan  men  may  do  great 
injury,  especially  when  tbey  have  facilities  for  operating  on  a 
large  field,  this  co-nven-tioii  is  of  opinion  that  the  General  Assem- 
bly Ought  to  make  known  to  our  national  societies,  not  previously 
noticed  in  this  memorial,  that  the  Presbyterian  Church  expects  of 
them  great  caution  in  the  selection  of  their  travelling  agents,  and 
that  it  ought  to  be  regarded  as  peculiarly  unkind  in  any  of  them 
to  give  to  the  correspondence  or  general  bearing  of  their  institu-. 
tions,  a  bias  against  the  strictest  order,  and  soundest  principles  of 
our  beloved  branch  of  the  Church  of  Christ. 

"  Covclvsion. 
"And  now  we  submit  to  the  highest  tribunal  of  our  cliurcb,  ta 
P 


226  OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED. 

all  our  brethren  beloved  in  the  Lord,  and  to  the  generation  in 
which  our  lots  are  cast,  a  Testimony  which  we  find  ourselves 
unable  to  weaken  or  abridge,  and  keep  a  good  conscience  to- 
wards God  and  man.  We  have  performed  a  duty  to  which  the 
providence  of  God  has  shut  us  up.  We  have  done  it,  in  reliance 
on  his  grace,  and  in  view  of  his  judgment  bar.  Whatever  the 
issue  n)ay  be,  we  rejoice  in  the  sense  of  having  discharged  a 
great  and  imperative  obligation,  manifestly  required  at  our  hands, 
and  all  whose  issues  ought  to  promote  the  purity,  the  peace,  and 
the  unity  of  the  Church  of  Christ. 

"  The  whole  responsibility  of  future  results  is  from  this  moment 
thrown  first  upon  the  General  Assembly  now  in  session,  and  after- 
wards upon  the  whole  church.  The  Assembly  will,  of  course, 
pursue  such  a  line  of  conduct  as  will  appear  to  acquit  it  before 
earth  and  heaven.  The  destinies  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  as 
now  organized,  are  in  its  hands,  and  our  Saviour  will  require  a 
strict  account  concerning  it.  The  great  body  of  the  churcli  must 
needs  rejudge  the  whole  action  of  the  Assembly,  and  on  her  judg- 
ment we  repose,  with  a  sacred  assurance,  second  only  to  that 
which  binds  our  hearts  and  souls  in  filial  confidence  to  her  glo- 
rious Lord.  For  ourselves,  the  hardest  portion  of  our  work  is 
past.  Hearts  which  the  past  has  not  broken,  have  little  need  to 
fear  what  the  future  can  bring  forth.  Spirits  which  have  not 
died  within  us  in  the  trials  through  which  we  have  been  led,  may 
confidently  resign  themselves  to  Mis  guidance,  whose  words  have 
rung  ceaselessly  upon  our  hearts,  '  This  is  the  way,  walk  ye  in 
it,'  and  whose  cheering  voice  comes  to  us  from  above, '  Fear  not, 
it  is  L' 

By  order  of  Convention. 

"Geo.  a.  Jjaxteh,  President. 

"  C.  C.  CuYLER,  Vice  President. 

"Thos  C.BAmD,       )  Clerics. 
"  Horace  b.  rRATX,  ) 

"Philadelphia,  May  18,  1S37." 

The  preceding  memorial  presents  a  synoptical  view  of  the 
deeply  interesting  subjects  v\  hich  were  discussed  by  this  conven- 
tion, and  the  results  and  conclusions  of  that  large  and  distinguished 
company  of  pastors  and  elders,  convened  from  all  parts  of  the 
Presbyterian  body,  to  collect  and  exhibit  intelligence,  to  detect 
dangers,  and  suggest  remedies,  on  the  slate  of  the  church.  Thai 
this  Testimony,  with  the  character  it  bears,  and  at  the  time  it 
was  presented,  should  exert  a  strong  influence  on  the  public 
mind,  and  on  the  transactions  of  the  General  Assembly  then  in 
session,  it  would  be  very  reasonable  to  believe. 


OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED. 


CHAPTER    XIX. 


22t 


Meeting  of  the  Assembly  of  1837,  Philadelphia — Organization — Memorials 
presented — Resolutions  of  Assembly — Abrogation  Act  passed — Majority 
thirty- three  votes — Committee  of  ten  from  each  party,  on  voluntary  divi- 
sion of  Church — Assembly  engage  in  prayer — Report  of  the  committee  of 
majority — Committees  agree  on  some  points — Not  on  others — Their  cor- 
respondence— Papers  in  numerical  order — Committee  on  state  of  the 
Church  discharged — True  reasons  for  the  failure  of  friendly  division — 
Synod  of  Western  Reserve  declared  out  of  the  Presbyterian  Church — 
So  also,  Synods  of  Utica,  Geneva,  and  Genessee — Cases  of  orthodox  indi- 
viduals and  churches  provided  for — Testimony  against  heretical  opinions; 

The  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  met  agree- 
ably to  appointment  in  the  Central  Presbyterian  Church,  Phila- 
delphia, May  ISih,  1837.  Rev.  David  Elliot,  D.  D.,  was  elected 
Moderator.  Testimony  in  various  forms,  memorials,  complaints, 
and  petitions,  on  the  subject  of  corruptions  and  abuses  in  the 
church,  were  presented  from  the  Presbytery  of  Lancaster,  the 
Presbytery  of  Albany,  Presbytery  of  New  Brunswick,  and  espe- 
cially a  "  Me:norial  and  Testimony,"  from  the  large  and  impor- 
tant convention  of  delegates  from  all  parts  of  the  church,  then  in 
session  in  the  city  of  Philadelphia.  This  memorial  was  commit- 
ted to  Dc.  A.  Alexander,  Mr.  Plumer,  Or,  A.  Green,  Dr.  Baxter, 
Dr.  Leland,  Mr.  Lovvrie,  and  Mr.  Lenox.  The  committee  re- 
ported on  that  part  of  the  memorial  relating  to  the  connexion  ex- 
isting between  the  Congregational  and  Presbyterian  Churches, 
and  recommended  the  adoption  of  the  following  resolutions  ofiered 
by  the  chairman  : 

"1,  That  between  these  two  branches  of  the  American  Church, 
in  the  jadgmertt  of.  this  Assembly,  there  ought  to  be  maintained 
sentiments  of  mutual  respect  and  esteem,  and  for  that  purpose  no 
reasonable  efforts  should  be  omitted  to  preserve  a  perfectly  good 
unde'rslandiiig  between  these  branches  of  the  Church  of  Christ. 

"2.  That  il  is  expedient  to  continue  the  plan  of  friendly  inter- 
course between  this  church  and  the  Congregational  Churches  of 
New  England,  as  it  now  exists. 

"3.  Bui  as  the  Plan  of  Union  adopted  for  the  new  settlements 
in  1801,  was  originally  an  unconstitutional  act  on  the  part  of  that 
Assembly,  these  important  standing  rules  having  never  been  sub- 
mitted to  the  Presbyteriesj  and  as  they  were  totally  destitute  of 
authority,  as  proceeding  from  the  General  Association  of  Con- 
necticut, which  is  invested  with  no  power  to  legislate  in  such 
cases,  and  especially  to  enact  laws  to  regulate  churches  not  within 
her  limits;  and,  as  much  irregularity  and  confusion  have  arisen 


228  OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED, 

from  this  unnatiira)  and  unconstitutional  system  of  unio«,  there- 
fore it  is  resolved,  that  the  act  af  the  Assembly  of  1801,  entitled 
'  A  Plan  of  Union,'  be,  and  the  same  is  hereby  abrogated."  Di- 
gest, pp.  297 — 9. 

The  subject  of  these  resolutions,  and  especially  that  of  the  third 
in  order,  was,  after  long  and  serious  discussion,  adopted  by  the 
Assembly,  by  a  majority  of  thirty-three  voles. 

By  this  decision,  the  root  and  origin  of  the  calamities  which 
had  so  long  and  so  deplorably  afflicted  the  church,. were  so  far  re- 
moved out  of  the  way,  that  the  Assembly  immediately  began  to- 
exert  her  utmost  skill  with  great  moderation  to  devise  and  apply 
some  appropriate  system,  to  terminate  amicably  all  connexion 
with  the  party  whose  action  had  been  for  a  long  time  so  seriously 
adverse  to  the  interests  of  the  church,  and  annoying  to  the  ortho- 
dox body. 

In  reference  to  that  part  of  the  report  of  the  committee  on  the 
memorial,  relating  to  disorders  in  practice,  and  errors  in  doctrine, 
tolerated  in  the  church  by  inferior  judicatories,  a  resolution  was 
passed,  to  cite  to  the  bar  of  the  next  Assembly,  such  inferior  ju- 
dicatories as  shall  appear  to  be  charged  by  common  fame  with, 
such  irregularities  as  are  referred  to  in  said  mcmorwl.  And  it 
w^as  farther  resolved,  to  take  the  proper  steps  for  carrying  out 
such  a  process.  For  this  purpose,  it  was  pronounced  essential  by 
a  decision  of  the  house,  to  appoint  a  special  committee  to  ascer- 
tain what  inferior  judicatories  are  thus  charged  by  common  fame, 
to  prepare  charges  and  specihcations  against  them,  and  to  digest 
a  suitable  plan  of  procedure  in  the  matter,  and  report,  &c. 

Subsequent  action  of  the  Assembly  on  this  subject  rendered  it 
unnecessary  for  this  committee  to  meet  and  report,  according  to 
appointment. 

A  suspension  of  the  action  of  this  committee  was  occasioned 
by  the  following  motion  of  Mr.  Breckinridge,  in  pursuance  of 
previous  notice,  viz:  To  appoint  a  committee  often  members,  on 
the  state  of  the  church,  of  whom  an  equal  number  shall  be  from 
the  mojorily  and  minority  of  the  vote  on  the  resolutions  to  cite 
nferior  judicatories,  to  inquire  into  the  expediency  of  a  voluntary 
division  of  the  Presbyterian  Church.  Dr.  Junkin  and  Mr.  Ewing, 
on  the  part  of  the  majority,  and  Messrs.  A.  Campbell  and  Jes- 
sup,  on  the  part  of  the  minority,  were  af)pointed  to  nominate 
each  five  members  of  the  committee  on  the  preceding  resolution. 
Dr.  Junkin  and  Mr.  Campbell,  from  the  committee  to  nominate 
this  committee  of  ten  on  the  division  of  the  church,  respectively 
reported  the  following  nomination,  viz:  Mr.  Breckinridge,  Dr. 
Alexander,  Dr.  Cuyler,  Dr.  VVitherspoon,  and  Mr.  Ewing,  on  the 
part  of  the  majority,  and  \}\'.  McAuley,  Dr.  Beman,  Dr.  Peters, 
Mr.  Dickinson,  and  Mr.  Jessup,  on  the  part  of  the  minority. 


OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED.  2219 

The  Assembly  engaged  in  prayer  on  behalf  of  this  commit- 
tee, and  ®f  the  snbject,  referred  to  them.  This  large  and  re- 
spectable -committee,  appointed  on  Saturday,  May  27th,  met 
several  times,  corresponded  frequently  on  the  subject  entrusted 
to  them,  and  held  the  whole  matter  under  profound  and  solemn 
advisement  till  the  following  Tuesday,  when  the  Rev.  Dr. 
Alexander,  chairman,  of  the  committee,  with  instructions,  re- 
ported, that  they  had  not  been  able  to  agree  and  requested  to 
be  discharged.  Both  portions  of  the  committee  then  made  se- 
parate reports,  which  were  entered  upon  the  minutes,  and  are 
Qs  follows,  viz : 

To  fhos€  persons  Vv^ho  desire  to  understand  thoroughly  the 
nature  of  this  interesting  matter,  we  offer  no  apology  for  in- 
sertii?g  the  documents,  literally  and  at  full  length,  as  they  came 
from  the  hands  of  the  committee.  And  it  cannot  but  be  re- 
garded as  a  very  important  matter,  to  exhibit  in  this  record,  the 
evidence,  as  well  as  the  nature,  of  the  disposition  manifested  by 
the  majority,  in  this  negotiation,  to  effect  a  division  of  the 
church  on  just  principles  and  in  an  amicable  manner. 
•'  Report  of  the  Committee  of  the  Majority. 

"The  comm-ittee  of  the  majority,  from  the  united  committee 
on  the  stale  of  the  cIvKrch,  beg  leave  to  report: 

"That  having  been  unable  to  agree  with  the  minority's  com- 
mittee, on  any  plan  for  the  immediate  and  voluntary  separation 
of  the  New  and  Old  School  parties,  in  the  Presbyterian  Church, 
they  lay  before  the  General  Assentbly  the  papers  which  passed 
between  the  committees,  and  which  contain  all  tbe  important 
proceedings  of  both  bodies. 

"  These  papers  are  marked  1  to  5,  of  the  majority,  and  1  to 
4,  of  the  minority.  A  careful  examination  of  them  will  show 
that  the  two  committees  were  agreed  in  the  foltowing  matters, 
namely: 

"  1.  That  of  the  propriety  of  a  voluntary  separation  of  the 
parties  in  our  church,  and  their  separate  organization.  ^ 

"  2.  As  to  the  corporation  funds,  the  names  to  be  held  by 
each  denomination,  the  records  of  the  church,  its  boards  and 
institutions. 

"  3.  It  will  farther  appear,  that  the  committees  were  entirely 
unable  to  agree  on  the  following  points,  namely : 

"  1.  As  to  the  propriety  of  entering  at  once,  by  the  Assembly, 
upon  the  division,  or  the  sending  -down  of  the  question  to  the 
Presbyteries. 

"  2.  As  to  the  power  of  the  Assembly  to  take  effectual  initia- 
tive steps,  as  proposed  by  the  majority  ;  or  the  necessity  of  ob- 
taining a  change  in  the  constitution  of  the  church. 

"  3.  As  to  the  breaking  up  of  the  succession  of  the  General 


330  OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED. 

Assembly,  so  that  neither  of  the  new  assemhlies  proposed 
should  be  considered  this  proper  body  continued.;  or  that  the 
body  which  should  retain  the  name  and  institutions  of  the  Ge- 
neral Assembly  in  the  Presbyterian  Church,  in  the  United 
States  of  America,  should  be  held  in  fact  and  law,  to  be  the 
true  successors  of  this  body.  While  the  committee  of  the  ma- 
jority were  perfectly  disposed  to  do  all  that  the  utmost  liberality 
could  demand,  and  to  use  in  all  cases  such  expressions  as 
should  be  wholly  unexceptionable,  yet  it  appeared  to  us  indis- 
pensable to  take  our  final  stand  on  these  grounds. 

^' For,  first,  we  are  convinced,  if  any  thing  towards  a  volun- 
tary separation  is  done,  it  is  absolutely  necessary  to  do  it  ef- 
fectually and  at  once. 

"  Secondly,  as  neither  party  professes  any  desire  to  alter  any 
constitutional  rule  whatever,  it  seems  to  us  not  only  needless, 
but  absurd,  to  send  down  an  overture  to  the  Presbyteries  on 
this  subject.  We  believe,  moreover,  that  full  power  exists  in 
the  Assembly,  either  by  consent  of  parties,  or  in  the  way  of 
discipline,  to  settle  this,  and  all  such  cases;  and  that  its  speedy 
settlement  is  greatly  to  be  desired. 

"  Thirdly,  in  regard  to  the  succession  of  the  General  Assembly, 
this  committee  could  not,  in  present  circumstances,  consent  to 
any  thing  th^^t  should  even  imply  the  final  dissolution  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church,  as  now  organized  in  this  country;  which 
idea,  it  will  be  observed,  is  at  the  basis  of  the  plan  of  the  mi- 
nority ;  insomuch,  that  even  the  body  retaining  the  name  and 
institutions,  should  not  be  considered  the  successors  of  this  bodv. 

"Finally,  it  would  be  observed  from  our  fifth  paper,  as  com- 
pared with  the  fourth  paper  of  the  niinority's  committee,  that 
the  final  shape  which  their  proposal  assumed,  was  such  that  it 
was  impossible  for  the  majority  of  the  house  to  carry  out  its 
views  and  wishes,  let  the  vote  be  what  it  might.  For  if  the 
house  should  vote  for  the  plan  of  the  committee  of  the  majority, 
the  other  committee  would  not  consider  itself  or  its  friends 
bound  thereby,  and  voluntary  division  would  therefore  be  im- 
possible in  that  case.  But  if  the  house  should  vote  for  the  mi- 
nority's plan,  then  the  foregoing  insuperable  objections  to  that 
plan  being  supposed  to  be  surmounted,  still  the  whole  case 
would  be  put  off,  perhaps  indefinitely. 

"  A.  Alexandkr,  C.  C.  Cutler,'  &c.,  &c." 
*'  Report  of  the  Committee  of  the  Minority. 

"The  subscribers,  appointed  members  of  the  committee  of 
ten  on  the  state  of  the  church,  respectfully  ask  leave  to  report, 
as  follows,  to  wit : 

"It  being  understood  that  one  object  of  the  appointment  of 
said  committee,  was  to  consider  the  expediency  of  a  voluntary 


OLD    SCHOOL    VmDICATED.  231 

division  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  and  to  devise  a  plan  for 
the  same,  they,  in  connexion  with  the  other  members  of  the 
committee,  have  had  the  subject  under  dehberation. 

"  The  subscribers  had  behoved  that  no  such  imperious  ne- 
cessity for  a  division  of  the  church  existed  as  some  of  their 
brethren  supposed,  and  that  the  consequences  of  division  would 
be  greatly  to  be  deprecated.  Such  necessity,  however,  being 
urged  by  many  of  our  brethren,  we  have  been  induced  to  yield 
to  their  wishes,  and  to  admit  the  expediency  of  a  division,  pro- 
vided, the  same  could  be  accomphshed  in  an  amicable,  equita- 
ble, and  proper  manner.  We  have  accordingly  submitted  the 
following  propositions  to  our  brethren  on  the  other  part  of  the 
same  committee,  who,  at  the  same  time,  submitted  to  us  their 
proposition,  which  is  annexed  to  this  report. 

"  JVb.  1  of  t fie  Majority. 

"  The  portion  of  the  committee  which  represents  the  majori- 
ty, submit  for  consideration  : 

"1.  That  the  peace  and  prosperity  of  the  Presbyterian  Church, 
in  the  United  States,  require  a  separation  of  the  portions  called 
respectively,  the  Old  and  New  School  parties,  and  represented 
by  the  majority  and  minority  in  the  present  Assembly. 

"  2.  That  the  portion  of  the  church  represented  by  the  ma- 
jority, in  the  present  General  Assembly,  ought  to  retain  the 
name  and  the  corporate  property  of  the  General  Assembly  of 
the  Presbyterian  Church,  in  the  United  States  of  America. 

"  3.  That  the  two  parties  ought  to  form  separate  denomina- 
tions, under  separate  organizations ;  that  to  effect  this,  with  the 
least  delay,  the  commissioners  in  the  present  General  Assem- 
bly, shall  eleet  which  body  they  will  adhere  to,  and  this  elec- 
tion shall  decide  the  position  of  their  Presbyteries,  respectively, 
for  the  present;  that  every  Presbytery  may  reverse  the  deci- 
sion of  its  present  commissioners,  and  unite  with  the  opposite 
body,  by  the  permission  of  that  body,  properly  expressed  ;  that 
minorities  of  Presbyteries,  if  large  enough,  or  if  not,  then  in 
connexion  with  neighbouring  minorities,  may  form  new  Pres- 
byteries, or  attach  themselves  to  existing  Presbyteries,  in  union 
with  either  body,  as  shall  be  agreed  on  ;  that  Synods  ought  to 
take  order  and  make  election  on  the  general  principles  already 
stated,  and  minorities  of  Synods  should  follow  out  the  rule  sug- 
gested for  minorities  of  Presbyteries,  as  far  as  they  are  appli- 
cable." 

«JVb.  1  of  the  Minority. 

"  Whereas,  the  experience  of  many  years  has  proved,  that  this 
body  is  too  large  to  answer  the  purposes  contemplated  by  the 
constitution,  and  there  appear  to  be  insuperable  obstacles  in  the 


232  OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED. 

way  of  reducing  the  representation  ;  and  whereas,  in  the  exten- 
sion of  the  church  over  so  great  a  territory,  embracing  such  a 
variety  of  people,  difl'erence  of  view  in  relation  to  important 
points  of  church  policy  and  action,  as  well  as  theological  opin- 
ion, are  found  to  exist ; 

"  Now,  it  is  believed,  a  division  of  the  body  into  two  separate 
bodies,  which  shall  act  independently  of  each  other,  will  be  of 
vital  importance,  to  the  best  interests  of  the  Redeemer's  king- 
dom ;  therefore, 

"  Resolved,  That  the  following  rules  be  sent  down  to  the 
Presbyteries,  for  their  adoption  or  rejection,  as  constitutional 
rules,  to  wit : 

"  1.  The  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  in 
the  United  States  of  America,  shall  be  and  it  hereby  is  divided 
into  two  bodies ;  the  one  thereof  to  be  called  the  General  As- 
sembly of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  in  the  United  States  of 
x\merica,and  the  other,  the  General  Assembly  of  the  American 
Presbyterian  Church. 

"2.  That  the  Confession  of  Faith  and  form  of  government, 
of  the  Presbyterian  Cimrch  of  the  United  States  of  America,  as 
it  now  exists,  shall  continue  to  be  the  Confession  of  Faith  and 
form  of  government  of  both  bodies,  until  it  shall  be  constitu- 
tionally changed  and  altered  by  either,  in  the  manner  prescribed 
therein. 

"3.  That  in  sending  up  their  commissioners  to  the  next  Gen- 
eral Assembly,  each  Presbytery,  after  having,  in  making  out 
their  commissions,  followed  the  form  now  prescribed,  shall  add 
thereto  as  follows,  viz:  Tliat  in  case  a  majority  of  the  Pres- 
byteries shall  have  voted  to  adopt  the  plan  for  organizing  two 
General  Assemblies,  we  direct  our  said  commissioners  to  attend 
the  meeting  of  'The  Presbyterian  Church  of  the  United  States 
of  America,'  or  'The  x'^merican  Presbyterian  Church,'  as  the 
case  may  be.  And  after  the  opening  of  the  next  General  As- 
sembly, and  before  proceeding  to  other  business,  than  the  usual 
preliminary  organization,  the  said  Assembly  shall  ascertain 
what  is  the  vote  of  the  Presbyteries  ;  and  in  case  a  majority  of 
said  Presbyteries  shall  have  adopted  these  rules,  then  the  two 
General  Assemblies  shall  be  constituted  and  organized,  in  the 
manner  now  pointed  out  in  the  form  of  government,  by  the 
election  of  their  respective  moderators,  stated  clerks,  and  other 
officers. 

'•'4.  The  several  Presbyteries  shall  be  deemed  and  taken  to 
belong  to  that  Assembly  with  which  they  shall  direct  their 
commissioners  to  meet,  as  stated  in  the  preceding  rule.  And 
each  General  Assembly  shall,  at  their  first  meeting,  as  aforesaid, 
organize  the  Presbyteries  belonging  to  each,  into  Synods.    And 


OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED.  52133 

in  case  any  Presbytery  shall  fail  to  decide,  as  aforesaid,  at  that 
time,  they  may  attach  themselves,  within  one  year  thereafter, 
to  the  Assembly  they  shall  prefer. 

"■  5.  Churches,  and  members  of  churches,  as  well  as  Presby- 
teries, shall  be  at  full  liberty  to  decide  to  which  of  said  Assem- 
blies they  will  be  attached  ;  and  in  case  the  majority  of  male 
■members  in  any  church,  sha^l  decide  to  belong  to  a  Presbytery, 
Goimected  with  the  Assembly  to  which  their  Presbytery  is  not 
attached,  they  shall  certify  the  same  to  the  stated  clerk  of  the 
Presbytery  which  they  wish  to  leave,  and  the  one  with  which 
they  wish  to  unite,  and  they  shall,  ipso  facto,  be  attached  to 
such  Presbytery. 

"  6.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  Presbyteries,  at  their  first  meeting 
after  the  adoption  of  these  rules,  or  within  one  year  thereafter, 
to  grant  certificates  of  dismission,  to  such  ministers,  licentiates, 
and  students,  as  may  wish  to  unite  with  a  Presbytery  at. ached 
to  tlie  other  General  Assembly. 

"  7.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  church  sessions,  to  grant  letters 
of  dismission  to  such  of  their  members,  being  in  regular  stand- 
ing, as  may  apply  for  the  same,  within  one  year  after  the  or- 
ganization of  said  Assemblies  under  these  rules,  for  the  purpose 
of  uniting  with  any  church  attached  to  a  Presbytery  under  the 
care  of  the  other  General  Assembly;  and  if  such  session  refuse 
so  to  dismiss,  it  shall  be  lawful  for  such  members  to  unite  with 
such  other  church,  in  the  same  manner  as  if  a  certificate  were 
given. 

"  S,  The  boards  of  education  and  missions  shall  continue 
their  organization  as  heretofore,  until  the  next  meeting  of  the 
Assembly;  and  in  case  the  rules  for  the  division  of  the  Assem- 
bly be  adopted,  those  boards  shall  be,  and  hereby  are  transferred 
to  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  in  tiie 
United  States  of  America,  if  that  Assembly,  at  its  first  meeting, 
shall  adopt  the  boards  as  their  organizations,  and  the  seats  of 
any  ministers  or  elders,  in  those  boards,  not  belonging  to  that 
General  Assembly,  shall  be  deemed  to  be  vacant. 

"  9.  The  records  of  the  Assembly  shall  remain  in  the  hands 
of  the  present  stated  clerk,  for  the  mutual  use  and  benefit  of 
both  Assemblies,  until,  by  such  an  arrangement  as  they  may 
adopt,  they  shall  appoint  some  other  person  to  take  charge  of 
the  same;  and  either  Assembly,  at  their  own  expense,  may 
cause  such  extracts  and  copies  to  be  made  thereof,  as  they  may 
desire  and  direct. 

"  10.  The  Princeton  Seminary  funds,  to  be  transferred  to  the 
Board  of  Trustees  of  the  Seminary,  if  it  can  be  so  done  legally, 
and  without  forfeiting  the  trusts  upon  which  the  grants  were 
made;  and  if  it  cannot  be  done  legally,  and  according  to  the 


234  OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED. 

intention  of  the  donors,  then  to  remain  with  the  present  board 
of  trustees,  until  legislative  authority  be  given  for  such  trans- 
fer. The  supervision  of  said  Seminary,  in  the  same  manner  in 
which  it  is  now  exercised  by  the  General  Assembly,  to  be 
transferred  to  and  vested  in  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Pres- 
byterian Church,  in  the  United  States,  to  be  constituted.  The 
other  funds  of  the  cliurch  to  be  divided  equally  between  the 
wo  Assemblies. 

"  Pass  a  resolution  suspending  the  operation  of  the  controvert- 
ed votes,  until  after  the  next  Assembly." 

Being  informed  by  the  other  members  of  the  committee, 
that  they  had  concluded  not  to  discuss  in  committee  the  propo- 
sitions which  should  be  submitted,  and  that  all  propositions,  on 
both  sides,  were  to  be  in  writing,  and  to  be  answered  in  writing, 
the  following  papers  passed  between  the  two  parts  of  the  com- 
mittee : 

"  A'b.  2  of  the  Minority. 

"  The  committee  of  the  minority  make  the  following  objec- 
tions to  the  proposition  of  the  majority  : 

"  1.  To  any  recognition  of  the  terms  '  Old  and  New  Schools,' 
or  '  majority  and  minority,' of  the  present  Assembly;  in  any 
action  upon  the  subject  of  division,  the  minority  expect  the  di- 
vision, in  every  respect,  to  be  equal,  no  otlier  would  be  satis- 
factory. 

"2.  Insisting  upon  an  equal  division,  we  are  willing  that 
that  portion  of  the  church  which  shall  choose  to  retain  the 
present  boards,  shall  have  the  present  name  of  the  Assembly; 
the  corporate  property  which  is  susceptible  of  division,  to  be 
divided,  as  the  only  fair  and  just  course. 

"  3.  We  object  to  the  power  of  the  commissioners,  to  make 
any  division  at  this  time,  and  as  individuals,  we  cannot  assume 
the  responsibility. 

"  J\o.  2  of  the  Mtjorily. 

"The  committee  of  the  majority  having  considered  the  paper 
submitted  by  that  of  the  minority,  observe: 

"  1.  That  they  suppose  the  propriety  and  necessity  of  a  divi- 
sion of  the  church  may  be  considered  as  agreed  on  by  both 
committees,  but  we  think  it  not  expedient  to  attempt  giving 
reasons  in  a  preamble ;  the  preamble,  therefore,  is  not  agreed  to. 

"2.  So  much  of  No.  1,  of  the  plan  of  the  committee  of  the 
minority,  as  relates  to  the  proposed  names  of  the  New  General 
Assemblies,  is  agreed  to. 

"  3.  Nos.  I  to  S,  inclusive,  except  as  above,  are  not  agreed 
to,  but  our  proposition,  No.  3,  in  our  first  paper,  is  insisted  on. 


OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED.  235 

But  we  agree  to  the  proposition  in  regard  to  single  churches, 
individual  ministers,  Hcentiates,  students  and  private  members. 

"4.  In  Ueu  of  No.  9,  we  propose  that  the  present  stated 
clerk,  be  directed  to  make  out  a  complete  copy  of  all  our  re- 
cords, at  the  joint  expense  of  both  the  new  bodies,  and  after 
causing  the  copy  to  be  examined  and  certified,  deliver  it  to  the 
written  order  of  the  moderator  and  stated  clerk  of  the  General 
Assembly  of  the  American  Presbyterian  Church. 

'•'5.  VVe  agree  in  substance  to  the  proposal  in  No.  10,  and 
ofter  the  following  as  the  form  in  which  the  proposition  shall 
stand  : 

"  That  the  corporate  funds  and  property  of  the  church,  so  far 
as  they  appertain  to  the  Theological  Seminary  at  Princeton,  or 
relate  to  the  professors'  support,  or  the  edcation  of  beneficiaries 
there,  shall  remain  the  property  of  the  body  retaining  the  name 
of  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  in  the 
United  States  of  America;  that  all  other  funds  shall  be  equally 
divided  between  the  new  bodies,  so  far  as  it  can  be  done,  in 
conformity  with  the  intention  of  the  donors,  and  that  all  liabili- 
ties of  the  present  Assembly  shall  be  discharged  in  equal  por- 
tions by  thein ;  that  all  questions  relating  to  the  future  adjust- 
ment of  this  whole  subject,  upon  the  princijiles  now  agreed  on, 
shall  be  settled  by  committees,  appointed  by  the  new  Assem- 
blies, at  their  first  meeting,  respectively;  and  if  these  commit- 
tees shall  not  agree,  then  each  committee  shall  select  one  arbi- 
trator, and  these  two,  a  third,  which  arbitrators  shall  have  full 
power  to  settle,  finally,  the  whole  case  in  all  its  parts;  and  that 
no  person  shall  be  appointed  an  arbitrator  who  is  a  member  of 
either  church  ;  it  being  distinctly  understood,  that  whatever  dif- 
ficulties may  arise,  in  the  construction  of  trusts,  and  all  other 
questions  of  power,  as  well  as  right,  legal  and  equitable,  shall 
be  finally  decided  by  the  committees  or  arbitrators,  so  as  in  all 
cases  to  prevent  an  appeal  by  either  party,  to  the  legal  tribu- 
nals of  the  country. 

"  JVo.  3  of  the  Minority. 

"  1.  We  accede  to  the  proposition  to  have  no  preamble. 

"2.  We  accede  to  the  proposition  No.  4,  modifying  our  pro- 
position No.  9,  in  relation  to  the  records  and  copies  of  the  re- 
cords; the  copy  to  be  made  within  one  year  after  the  division. 

"  3.  We  assent  to  the  modification  of  No.  10,  by  No.  5  of  the 
propositions  submitted,  with  a  trifling  alteration  in  the  phrase- 
ology, striking  out  the  words,  'shall  remain  the  property  of  the 
body  retaining  the  name  of  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Pres- 
byterian Church,  in  the  United  States  of  America,'  and  insert- 
ing the  words, '  shall  be  transferred,  and  belong  to  the  General 


236  OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED. 

Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  of  the  United   States  of, 
America,  hereby  constituted.' 

"4.  We  cannot  assent  to  any  division  by  the  present  com- 
missioners of  the  Assembly,  as  it  would  in  no  wise  be  obliga- 
tory on  any  of  the  judicatories  of  the  church,  or  any  members 
of  the  churches.  The  only  effect  would  be,  a  disorderly  disso- 
lution of  the  present  Assembly,  and  be  of  no  binding  force  or 
effect  upon  any  member  who  did  not  assent  to  it. 

"  5.  We  propose  a  resolution,  to  be  appended  to  tlie  rules, 
and  which  we  believe,  if  adopted  by  the  committee,  would  pass 
with  great  unanimity,  urging  in  strong  terms,  the  adoption  of 
the  rules  by  the  Presbyteries;  and  the  members  of  the  minori- 
ty side  of  the  committee,  pledge  themselves  to  use  their  influ- 
ence, to  procure  the  adoption  of  the  same,  by  the  Presbyteries. 

"  J\^o.  3  of  the  Majority, 

"  The  committee  of  the  majority,  in  relation  to  paper  No.  2, 
observe  : 

"1.  That  the  terms  '  Old  and  New  School,' '  majority  and 
minority,'  are  meant  as  descriptive,  and  some  description  being 
necessary,  we  see  neither  impropriety  nor  unsuitableness  in 
them. 

"2.  Our  previous  paper,  No.  2,  having,  as  we  suppose,  sub- 
stantially acceded  to  t!)e  proposal  of  the  minority,  in  relation  to 
the  funds,  in  their  first  paper,  we  deem  any  farther  statement 
on  that  subject,  unnecessary. 

"  3.  That  we  see  no  difficulty  in  the  way  of  settling  the  mat- 
ter at  present,  subject  to  the  revision  of  the  Presbyteries,  as 
provided  in  our  first  paper,  under  the  third  head  ;  and  as  no 
'constitutional  rules'  are  proposed,  in  the  way  of  altering  any 
principles  of  our  system,  we  see  no  constitutional  objection  to 
the  execution  of  the  proposal  already  made.  We  therefore  ad- 
here to  the  plan  as  our  final  proposal.  But,  if  the  commission- 
ers of  any  Presbytery  should  refuse  to  elect,  or  be  equally  di- 
vided, then  the  Presbytery  which  they  represent,  shall  make 
such  election,  at  its  first  meeting  after  the  adjournment  of  the 
present  General  Assembl3^ 

"  A^o.  4.  of  the  Majority. 
The  committee  of  the  majority,  in  reply  to  No.  3,  of  the  mi- 
nority's committee,  simply  refer  to  their  own  preceding  papers, 
as  containing  their  final  propositions. 

"  J\^o.  4  of  the  Minority. 
"  The  committee  of  the  minority,  in  reply  to  No.  3,  of  the 
majority,  observe,  that  they  will  unite,  in  a  report  to  the  As- 


I 


OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED.  237 

sembly,  Stating  that  the  committee  have  agreed,  that  it  is  expe- 
dient that  a  division  of  the  chwch  be  effected,  and  in  general, 
upon  the  principles  upon  which  it  is  to  be  carried  out,  but  they 
differ  as  tO'  the  manner  of  effecting  it. 

"On  the  one  hand,  it  is  asked,  that  a  division   be   made  by 
the   present  Assembly,  at  their  present  meeting;  and  on   the 
ather  hand,  that  the  plan  of  division,  with  the  subsequent  ar- 
rangement and  organization,  shall  be  submitted  to  the  Presby-  ^ 
teries  for  their  adoption  or  rejection. 

"They  wilt  unite  in  asking  the  General  Assembly,  to  decide 
the  above  points,  previous  to  reporting  the  details  ;  and  in  case 
the  Assembly  decide  in  favor  of  immediate  division,  then  the 
paper  No.  1,  of  the  majority,  with  the  modifications  agreed  on, 
be  taken  as  the  basis  of  the  report  in  detail. 

"If  the  Assembly  decide  to-  send  to  the  Presbyteries,  then 
No.  1,  of  the  minority's  papers-,  with  the  modifications  agreed 
on,  shall  be  the  basis  of  the  report  in  detail. 

"The  committee  of  the  minority  cannot  agree  to  any  other, 
propositions  than  those  already  submitted,  until  the  above  be 
settled  by  the  Assembly. 

"  If  the  above  proposition  be  not  agreed  to,  or  be  modified, 
and  then,  agreed  to,  they  desire  that  each  side  may  make  a-  re- 
port to  the  Assembly,  to-morrow  morning. 

"  JVb.  5  of  the  Majority. 
"  The  committee  of  the  majority,  in  answer  tO'  No.  4,  &:c.,  re- 
ply, that  understarjiding  from-  the  verbal  explanations  of  the 
committee  of  the  minority,  that  the  said  committee  would  not 
consider  either  side  bound  by  the  vote  of  the  Assembly,  if  it 
were  against  their  views  and  wishes,  respectively,  on  the  point 
proposed  to  be  submitted  to  its  decision,  in  said  paper,  to  carry 
out  in  good  faith,  a  scheme  which,  in  that  case,  could  not  be 
approved  by  them.;  and  under  such  circumstances,  a  volurijary 
separation  being  manifestly  impossible,  this  committee  consider 
No.  4,  of  the  minority,  as  virtually  a  waiver  of  the  whole  sub- 
ject. If  nothing  further  remains  to  be  proposed,  they  submit 
that  the  papers  be  laid  before  the  Assembly,  and  that  the  united 
committee  be  dissolved." 

The  committee  on  the  state  of  the  church  was  discharged. 
After  the  discharge  of  this  committee,  whose  report  is  fully 
presented  above,  the  whole  subject  of  a  voluntary  division  of 
the  Presbyterian  body,  was  indefinitely  postponed. 

From  these  papers,  it  will  be  seen,  that  the  only  question  of 
any  importance,  upon  which  the  committee  differed,  was  that 
proposed  to  be  submitted  to  the  decision  of  the  Assembly,  as  pre- 
liminary to  any  action,  upon  the  details  of  either  plan.     There- 


•^'l? 


238  OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED. 


fore,  believing  that  the  members  of  this  Assembly,  have  neither  a 
conslitiitioiial,  nor  moral  right,  to  adopt  a  plan  for  the  division  of 
the  cliurch,  in  relation  to  which  they  are  entirely  uninst  ructed 
by  the  Presbyteries;  believing  that  the  course  proposed  by  their 
brethren  of  the  committee,  to  be  entirely  ineflicacious,  and  calcu- 
lated to  introduce  confusion  and  disorder  into  the  whole  church, 
and  instead  of  mitigating  to  enhance  the  evils  which  it  proposes 
to  remove,  and  regarding  the  plan  proposed  by  themselves,  with 
the  modifications  thereof,  as  before  stated,  as  presenting  in  gene- 
ral, the  only  safe,  certain  and  constiiutional  mode  of  division,  the 
subscribers  do  respectfully  present  the  same  to  the  Assembly,  for 
their  adoption  or  rejection. 

"  Thos.  McAuley,  N.  S.  S.  Beman,  O.  Peters,  &c." 

The  candid  and  judicious  reader  of  the  propositions,  the  cor- 
respondence, and  the  reports  of  the  committees,  in  the  General 
Assembly  of  1837,  on  the  state  of  the  church,  and  on  the  subject 
of  an  amicable  division,  may,  from  the  pages  here  recorded,  ob- 
tain a  good  insight  into  the  real  character  and  aim  of  the  parties 
at  issue.  The  orthodox  had  been  rendered  so  unhappy  by  tlie 
encroaching  and  distracting  measures  of  the  New  Seliool  for 
vears  past,  that  they  were  most  honestly  and  earnestly  desirous 
of  accomplishing  a  separation  without  conflict  or  tumult,  that 
their  committee  were  prepared,  and,  indeed,  substantially  in- 
structed and  auihorized,  to  exercise  the  highest  Christian  liberal- 
itv,  and  to  make  every  lawful  sacrifice  to  effect  the  object  in 
view.  It  is,  therefore,  submitted,  whether  the  records  of  their 
transactions  do  not  fully  award  to  them  the  high  character  of 
fidelity  to  the  principles  avowed,  and  to  the  accommodating  spirit 
professed.  We  most  deeply  regretted  the  failure  of  the  magnan- 
imous efl'ort  to  avert  most  aggravated  evils,  both  experienced  and 
apprehended,  in  this  voluntary  and  peaceful  manner.  Tire  com- 
mittee of  the  majority  had  a  herculean  task  to  perform.  All  the 
interests  of  the  church,  under  God,  were  entrusted  to  them,  and 
they  had  wily  adversaries  to  treat  with,  and  to  watch  and  to 
guard  against,  every  step. 

Candid  reviewers  cannot  but  see,  that  the  negotiation  failed 
through  the  unreasonable,  and,  as  appears,  the  designing  positions 
insisted  on  by  the  minority's  committee.  They  demanded  delay, 
that  the  matters  might  be  sent  down  to  the  Presbyteries,  on  the 
pretence,  that  the  Assembly  had  no  power  in  herself  to  act  on  the 
subject;  they  alleged  unwillingness  to  assume  the  responsibility  of 
inmediate  decision;  they  avowed  openly,  that  neilher  they  n-or 
their  division  of  the  church,  would  be  bound  by  any  action  of  the 
Assembly  touching  the  division  of  the  church  at  that  time;  they 
insisted  that  the  constitution  of  the  whole  church  should  be  en- 
tirely changed  and  reorganized,  to  bring  themselves,  it  may  have 


^^i 


OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED.  239 


been,  upon  a  parallel  with  the  original  and  true  church ;  they  re- 
quired that  the  whole  institution  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  should 
be  so  broken  up  as  to  leave  no  vestige  of  it;  to  destroy  the  iden- 
tity of  the  body,  the  true  succession  to  the  General  Assembly ; 
that  no  remaining  fragments  of  the  wreck  should  be  afterwards 
considered  the  proper  body  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  heretofore 
existing.  What  could  be  more  monstrous?  Design,  artifice,  re- 
newed and  protracted  warfare,  stand  out  prominently  in  every 
feature  of  this  dark,  foreboding  exhibition.  It  was  absolutely  im- 
possible that  the  majority  could  coincide  with  such  an  absurd 
and  shocking  plan  of  proceedure.  The  idea  of  treating  upon  such 
terms,  was  not  for  a  moment  entertained.  And  the  alluring  pros- 
pect died  away,  leaving  among  the  orthodox,  many  spirits  deeply 
afRicted  at  the  failure. 

The  subject  of  the  "  Abrogation"  of  the  unconstitutional  and 
injurious  "Plan  of  Union"  of  1801,  from  which  all  our  evils 
sprang,  had  been  several  days*  under  more  .absorbing  and  solemn 
consideration  than  ever  before;  and  the  minds  of  the  Old  School 
seemed  to  be  conducted,  as  if  by  an  inspiring  ray,  to  the  adoption 
of  this  inconfestible  principle,  that  if  "the  Plan  of  Union  of  1801," 
the  source  of  all  our  church  difficulties  and  unhappiness  were 
dried  up.  the  streams  of  strife  and  biiterness  would  cease  to  flow 
out;  if  the  foundation  of  the  corrupt  and  nauseating  mass  of  New 
8i;hoolism  be  removed,  the  wliole  superstructure  erected  upon  it 
must  fall  to  the  ground;  for  a  house  which  has  no  foundation 
cannot  stand. 

Here,  the  original  motion,  which  had  been  for  several  days  be- 
fore the  house  for  consideration,  but  postponed  from  time  to  time, 
was  introduced  in  the  following  terms,  viz: 

^*  Resolved,  That  by  the  operation  of  the  abrogation  of  the 
'Plan  of  Union  of  1801,'  the  Synod  of  the  Western  Reserve  is, 
and  is  hereby  dpclared  to  be  no  longer  a  part  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church  in  the  United  States  of  America;"  which  Was  decided  in 
the  afrirm'ative  by  a  majority  oftwenty-seven  votes. 

The  Assembly  prosecuted,  to  great  extent,  a  discussion  of  the 
resolution  ofiiered  respecting  the  0|)erations  of  the  American  Home 
Missionary  Society,  and  of  the  Amerif;an  Education  Society, 
within  the  bounds  of  the  Presbyterian  Church.  After  this  long 
debate,  the  resolution  passed  in  the  aftirmatrve,  in  the  following 
words,  viz:  "That  while  we  desire  that  no  body  of  Christian 
men,  of  other  denominations,  should  be  prevented  from  choosing 
their  own  plans  f>f  doing  good;  and  while  we  claiin  no  right  to 
('omplain,  should  they  exceed  us  in  energy  and  zeal,  we  believe 
that  facts  too  familiar  to  need  repetition  here,  warrant  us  in  af- 

*  See  Miautes  of  the  Assembly  for  1837,  pp.  420—437. 


240  OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED. 

firming,  that  the  organization  and  operations  of  the  so  called 
American  Home  Missionary  Society,  and  American  Education 
Society,  and  its  branches,  of  whatever  name,  within  our  bounds, 
are  exceedingly  injurious  to  the  peace  and  purity  of  the  Presby- 
terian Church.  We  recommend,  accordingly,  that  they  should 
cease  to  operate  within  any  of  our  churches." 

The  following  resolutions  were  carried  by  large  majorities: 

"  1.  That  in  consequence  of  the  abrogation,  by  this  Assembly, 
of  the  *  Plan  of  Union  of  1801,'  between  it  and  the  General  As- 
sociation of  Connecticut,,  as  utterly  unconstitutional,  and,  there- 
fore, null  and  void  from  the  beginning,  the  Synods  of  Ulica,  Ge- 
neva, and  Genessee,  which  were  formed  and  attached  to  this 
body,  under  and  in  execution  of  said  '  Plan  of  Union,'  be,  and  ate 
hereby  declared  to  be  out  of  the  ecclesiastical  connexion  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church  of  the  United  States  of  America,  and  that 
they  are  nol,.in  form  or  in  fact,. an  integral  portion  of  said  church. 

"2.  That  the  solicitude  of  this-  Asi^embly  on  the  whole  subject, 
and  its  urgency  fur  the  in)mediate  decision  of  it,  are  greatly  in- 
creased by  reason  of  the  gross  disorders  which  are  ascertained  to 
have  prevailed  in  those  Synods,  as  well  as  that  of  the  Western 
Reserve,  agninst  which  a  declarative  resolution,  si.mil-ar  to  the 
first  of  these,  has  been  passed  during  the  present  Sessions,  it  being 
made  clear  to  us,  that  even  the  '  Plan  of  Union'  itself,  was  never 
consistently  carried  into  effect  by  those  professing  to  act  under  it. 

"3.  That  the  General  Assembly  has  no  intention,  by  these  re- 
solutions, or  by  that  passed  in  the  case  of  the  Synod  ol  Western 
Reserve,  to  affect,,  in  any  way,  the  ministerial  standing  of  any 
members  of  any  of  said  Synods,  nor  to  disturb  the  pastoral  rela- 
tion in  any  church,  nor  to  interfere  with  the  duties  and  relations 
of  private  Christians,  in  their  respective  congregations  ;  but  only 
to  determine  and  declare,  according  to  the  truth  and  necessity  of 
the  case,  and  by  virtue  of  the  full  authority  existing  in  it,  for  that 
purpose,  the  relation  of  all  said  Synods,  and  all  their  constituent 
parts,  to  this  body,  and  to  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United 
States. 

"  4.  That  inasmuch  as  there  are  reported  to  be  several  churches 
and  ministers,  if  not  one  or  two  Presbyteries,  now  in  connexion 
with  one  or  more  of  said  Synods,  which  are  stiictly  Piesbyterian 
in  doctrine  and  order,  be  it  therefore  further  resolved,  that  all 
such  churches  and  ministers  as  wish  to  unite  with  us,  are  hereby 
directed  to  apply  for  admission  into  those  Presbyteries  belonging 
to  our  connexion,  which  are  most  convenient  to  their  respective 
locations;  and  tliat  any  such  Presbytery  as  aforesaid,  being 
strictly  Presliyteiian  in  d(K-trine  and  order,  and  now  in  connexion 
with  any  of  said  Synods,  as  may  desire  to  unite  with  us,  arc 
hereby  directed  to  make  application,  with  a   full  statement  of 


OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED.  24 1 

their  cases,  to  the  next  General  Assembly,  which  will  take  propei* 
order  thereon." 

Here  the  Assembly  resumed  the  consideration  of  that  part  of 
the  report  of  the  committee  on  the  memorial  of  the  convention, 
which  relates  to  doctrinal  errors.  The  following  preamble  and 
resolution  were  both  adopted  by  a  large  majority,  viz: 

"  As  one  of  the  principal  objects  ot  the  memorialists  is,  to  point 
out  certain  errors,  more  or  less  prevalent  in  our  church,  and  to 
bear  testimony  against  them,  your  committee  are  of  opinionj  that 
as  one  great  object  of  the  institution  of  the  church  was  to  be  a 
depository  and  guardian  of  the  truth;  and  as  by  the  constitution 
of  the  Presbyterinn  Church  in  the  Ignited  States,  it  is  made  the 
duty  of  the  General  Assembly  to  testify  against  error,  therefore, 

'^  Resulued,  That  the  testimony  of  the  memorialists  concerning 
doctrine,  be  adopted  as  the  testimony  of  this  General  Assembly, 
as  follows,  viz : 

"'  1.  That  God  would  have  prevented  the  existence  of  sin  in 
our  world,  but  was  not  able,  without  destroying  the  moral  agency 
of  man;  or,  that  for  aught  that  appears  in  the  Bible  to  the  con- 
trary, sin  is  incidental  to  any  wise  system. 

"'2.  That  election  to  eternal  life  is  founded  on  a  foresight  of 
faith  and  obedience. 

'* '  3.  That  we  have  no  more  to  do  with  the  first  sin  of  Adam 
than  with  the  sins  of  any  other  parent. 

'"4.  That  infants  come  into  the  world  as  free  from  moral  de* 
filemenl  as  was  Adam,  when  he  was  created. 

"  '  5.  That  infants  sustain  the  same  relation  to  the  moral  govern- 
ment of  God  in  this  world  as  brute  animals,  and  that  their  suffer* 
ings  and  death  are  to  be  accounted  for,  on  the  same  principles  as 
those  of  brutes,  and  not  by  any  means  to  be  considered  as  penal. 

"  '  6.  That  there  is  no  other  oijofinal  sin  than  the  fact  that  all  the 
posterity  of  Adam,  though  by  nature  innocent,  or  possessed  of  no 
moral  character,  will  always  begin  to  sin  when  they  begin  to  ex- 
ercise moral  agency;  that  oiiginal  sin  does  not  include  a  sinful 
bias  of  the  human  mind,  and  a  just  exposure  to  penal  suffering; 
and  that  there  is  no  evidence  in  Scripture,  that  infants,  in  order 
to  salvation,  do  need  redemption  by  the  blood  of  Christ,  and  re- 
generation by  the  Holy  Ghost. 

"'7.  That  the  doctrine  of  imputation,  whether  of  the  guilt  of 
Adam's  sin,  or  of  the  righteousness  of  Christ,  has  no  foundation 
in  the  word  of  God,  and  is  both  unjiisi  and  absurd. 

"'8.  That  the  sufferings  and  death  of  Christ  were  not  truly  vi- 
carious and  penal,  but  symbolical,  Gjovernmental,  and  instructive. 

"  '  9.  That  the  impenitent  sinner  is  by  nature,  and  independently 
of  the  renewing  influence  or  almighty  energy  of  the  Holy  Spirit, 
Q 


242  OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED. 

in  full  possession  of  all  the  ability  necessary  to  a  full  compliance 
with  all  the  commands  of  God. 

'"  10.  That  Christ  does  not  intercede  for  the  elect  until  after 
their  regeneration, 

" '  11.  That  saving  faith  is  not  an  effect  of  special  operation  of 
the  Holy  Spirit,  but  a  mere  rational  belief  of  the  truth,  or  assent 
to  the  word  of  God. 

"'  12.  That  regeneration  is  the  act  of  the  sinner  himself,  and 
that  it  consists  in  a  change  of  his  governing  purpose,  which  he 
himself  must  produce,  and  which  is  the  result,  not  of  any  direct 
influence  of  the  Holy  Spirit  on  the  heart,  but  chiefly  of  a  per- 
suasive exhibition  of  the  truth  analogous  to  the  influence  which 
one  man  exerts  over  the  mind  of  another;  or  that  regeneration  is 
not  an  instantaneous  act,  but  a  progressive  work. 

"  <  13.  That  God  has  done  all  that  he  can  do  for  the  salvation  of 
all  men,  and  that  man  himself  must  do  the  rest. 

"*  14.  That  God  cannot  exert  such  influence  on  the  minds  of 
men,  as  shall  make  it  certain  that  they  will  choose  and  act  in  a 
particular  manner,  without  impairing  their  moral  agency. 

" '  15.  That  the  righteousness  of  Christ  is  not  the  sole  ground  of 
the  sinner's  acceptance  with  God ;  and  that  in  no  sense  does  the 
righteousness  of  Christ  become  ours. 

"'  16.  That  the  reason  why  some  differ  from  others  in  regard 
to  their  reception  of  the  gospel  is,  that  they  make  themselves  to 
differ.' " 

Against  all  these  errors,  whenever,  wherever,  and  by  whom- 
soever taught,  the  Assembly  solemnly  testified,  warning  all  in 
connexion  with  the  Presbyterian  Church  against  ihem.  They  en- 
joined it  also  upon  all  inferior  judicatories,  to  adopt  all  suitable 
measures  to  keep  their  members  pure  from  opinions  so  dangerous, 
and  especially  to  guard  with  great  care  the  door  of  entrance  to 
the  sacred  office. 

In  regard  to  the  report  of  the  committee  on  that  part  of  the 
memorial  which  relates  to  church  order,  the  Assembly  adopted 
the  following  preamble  and  resolutions,  viz: 

"  Whereas,  it  is  represented  to  the  Assembly,  that  the  follow- 
ing disorders  and  irregularities  are  practiced  in  some  portions  of 
the  Presbyterian  Church,  without  determining  the  extent  of  them, 
the  Assembly  would  solemnly  warn  all  in  our  connexion  against 
them;  the  principal  of  which  are  as  follows,  viz: 

"  '  1.  The  formation  of  Presbyteries  without  defined  and  reason- 
able limits,  or  Presbyteries  covering  the  same  territory,  and  es- 
pecially such  a  formation  founded  on  doctrinal  repulsidns  or  affin- 
ities; thus  introducing  schism  into  the  very  vitals  of  the  body. 

"'2.  The  licensing  of  persons  to  preach  the  gospel,  and  or- 
daining to  the  office  of  the  ministry  such  as  not  only  accept 


OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED.  243 

our  standards  merely  for  substance  of  doctrine,  and  others  who 
are  unfit  and  ought  to  be  excluded  for  want  of  qualification,  but 
of  many  who  openly  deny  fundamental  principles  of  truth,  and 
preach  and  publish  radical  errors  as  already  set  forth. 

"'3.  The  formation  of  a  great  number  and  variety  of  creeds 
which  are  often  incomplete,  false,  and  contradictory  of  each  other, 
and  of  our  Confession  of  Faith  and  of  the  Bible ;  but  which  even  if 
true  are  needless,  seeing  that  the  public  and  authorized  standards 
of  the  church  are  fully  sufficient  for  the  purposes  for  which  such 
formularies  were  introduced,  namely,  as  public  testimonies  of  our 
faith  and  practice,  as  aids  to  the  teaching  of  the  people  truth  and 
righteousness,  and  as  instruments  for  ascertaining  and  preserving 
the  unity  of  the  Spirit  in  the  bonds  of  peace;  it  being  understood 
that  we  do  not  object  to  the  use  of  a  brief  abstract  of  the  doc- 
trines of  our  Confession  of  Faith,  in  the  public  reception  of  private 
members  of  the  church. 

" '  4.  The  needless  ordination  of  a  multitude  of  men  to  the  ofl^oe 
of  evangelist,  and  the  consequent  tendency  to  a  general  neglect  of 
the  pastoral  office;  frequent  and  hurtful  changes  of  pastoral  rela- 
tions; to  the  multiplication  of  spurious  excitements,  and  the  con- 
sequent spread  of  heresy  and  fanaticism,  thus  weakening  and 
bringing  into  contempt  the  ordinary  and  slated  agents  and  means, 
for  the  conversion  of  sinners,  and  the  edification  of  the  body  of 
Christ. 

"  '  5.  The  disuse  of  the  office  of  ruling  elder  in  portions  of  the 
church,  and  the  consequent  growth  of  practices  and  principles 
entirely  foreign  to  our  system  ;  thus  depriving  the  pastors  of  need- 
ful assistants  in  discipline,  the  people  of  proper  guides  in  Christ, 
and  the  churches  of  suitable  representatives  in  the  ecclesiastical 
tribunals. 

"  '  6.  The  unlimited  and  irresponsible  power  assumed  by  several 
associations  of  men  under  various  names,  to  exercise  authority 
and  influence,  direct  and  indirect,  over  Presbyters,  as  to  their 
field  of  labour,  place  of  residence,  and  mode  of  action  in  the  diffi- 
cult circumstances  of  our  church;  thus  actually  throwing  the 
control  of  affiiirs  in  large  portions  of  the  church,  and  sometimes 
in  the  General  Assembly  itself,  out  of  the  hands  of  the  Presbyte- 
ries into  ihose  of  single  individuals  or  small  committees  located  at 
a  distance. 

"•7.  A  progressive  change  in  the  system  of  Presbyterian  repre- 
sentation in  the  General  Assembly,  which  has  been  persisted  in  by 
those  holding  the  ordinary  majorities,  and  carried  out  in  detail 
by  those  disposed  to  take  undue  advantage  of  existing  opportuni- 
ties, until  the  actual  representation  seldom  exhibits  the  true  state 
of  the  church,  and  many  questions  of  deepest  interest  have 
been  decided  contrary  to  the  fairly  ascertained  wishes  of  the  ma- 


24^  OLD    SCHOOL    VINDrCATfiD. 

jority  of  the  church  and  people  in  our  communion;  thus  virtually 
subverting  the  essential  principles  of  freedom,  justice,  and  equality, 
On  which  our  whole  system  rests.'  " 


CHAPTER   XX. 

Dr.  Alexander's  resolutions  to  correct  New  School  disorders — Protest  of 
New  School  against  the  Abrogation  Act — Committee  to  reply — Their 
answer,  long,  minute,  and  able. 

As  an  additional  subject  of  great  and  vital  importance,  show- 
ing the  zeal  and  pertinacity  of  the  New  School,  in  their  aims  and 
eflbrts  to  subdue  the  church  to  their  power,  we  might  here  record 
the  fact  of  their  dividing  and  subdividing  Presbyteries,  possessing 
their  views,  so  as  to  multiply  their  aggregate  number  and  increase 
their  strength  in  the  General  Assembly.  To  remedy  this  disor- 
derly and  corrupt  artifice,  the  following  resolutions  were  offered 
by  Dr.  A.  Alexander,  viz: 

"  1.  That  no  commissioner  from  a  newly  formed  Presbytery 
shall  be  permitted  to  take  his  seat,  nor  shall  such  commissioner  bo 
reported  by  the  committee  on  commissions,  until  the  Presbytery 
shall  have  been  duly  reported  by  the  Synod,  and  recognized  as 
such  by  the  Assembly  ;  and  that  the  same  rule  apply  when  the 
name  of  any  Presbytery  has  been  changed. 

"2.  When  it  shall  appear  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  General  As- 
sembly, that  any  new  Presbytery  has  been  formed  for  the  [jurpose 
of  unduly  increasing  the  representation,  the  General  Assembly 
will,  by  a  vote  of  the  majority,  refuse  to  receive  the  delegates  of 
Presbyteries  so  formed,  and  may  direct  the  Synod  to  which  such 
Presbytery  belongs,  to  reunite  it  to  the  Presbytery  or  Presbyteries 
to  which  the  members  were  before  attached." 

To  see  the  unfairness  of  this  New  School  measure,  for  the  cor- 
rection of  which  Dr.  Alexander's  resolutions  are  intended,  let  us 
suppose  a  case,  parallels  to  which,  on  a  small  scale,  can  be  de- 
signated in  the  history  of  New  School  artifice,  to  swell  their  num- 
bers and  their  influence  in  church  judicatories.  By  the  constitu- 
tion of  the  church,  every  Presbytery,  consisting  of  twenty-four 
members  or  less,  down  to  three,  according  to  the  last  established 
ratio  of  representation,  is  entitled  to  one  commissioner  to  the  Ge- 
neral Assembly.*     Now,  if  a  New  School  Synod  should  desire 

*  Form  of  Government,  chap.  X,  sej.  7. 


OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED.  245 

and  resolve  on  such  a  course  of  action,  they  nnay  make  out  of  one 
Presbytery,  containing  twenty-four  members,  eight  Presbyteries, 
each  entitled  to  a  seat  in  the  General  Assembly.  Now  the  whole 
origTnal  Presbytery  of  twenty-four  members,  being  restricted  by 
the  constitution  to  one  clerical  representation  in  that  body,  by  this 
artful  subdivision  their  ratio  of  representation  and  power  in  the 
General  Assembly,  are  augmented  in  the  proportion  of  one  to 
eighty  The  case  supposed  is  an  extreme  one,  but  the  disorderly 
and  corrupting  principle  or  practice  is  fairly  exhibited  and  has 
been  successfully  attempted. 

The  protests  entered  by  the  minority  in  the  General  Assembly, 
against  the  measures  passed  by  the  majority,  to  correct  the  dis- 
orders and  abuses  prevailing  in  the  church,  are  so  numerous  and 
destitute  of  strength,  that  passing  by  the  whole  train  of  them,  and 
the  answers  to  them,  we  shall  transfer  from  the  minutes  of  the 
Assembly,  pages  458 — 462,  the  answer  recorded  there  to  the 
protest  of  the  minority  against  the  abrogation  of  the  "  Plan  ot 
Union"  of  1801.  As  the  protest  of  the  minority,  in  all  its  mate- 
rial points,  is  referred  to,  and  discussed  at  some  length  in  the  an- 
swer, the  protest  is  omitted,  but  can  be  seen  on  the  minutes,  at 
page  454. 

The  committee  to  whom  it  was  referred  to  answer  that  pro- 
test, state  that  *'  The  reasons  of  protest  are  numbered  from  I  to  6. 
No.  1  is  the  principal,  and,  therefore,  we  prefer  leaving  it  to  (he 
last,  and  commencing  with  No.  2.  '  We  protest,'  say  the  minority, 
'against  the  resolution  referred  to,  because  the  Plan  of  Union 
adopted  by  the  General  Assembly  of  1801,  was  designed  to  sup- 
press and  prevent  schismatical  contentions  and  for  the  promotion 
of  charity,  or,  in  the  language  of  the  plan  itself,  "  with  a  view  to 
prevent  alienation,  and  to  promote  union  and  harmony."  '  To 
this,  a  sufficient  answer  is  found  in  the  broad  and  undeniable  fact, 
that  the  Plan  of  Union  '  has  been  a  principal  means  of  dividing 
the  church,  and  this  General  Assembly,  into  two  parties;  and  has 
been  the  main  source  of  those  schisms  which  for  many  years 
have  distracted  our  Zion.'  Whilst  it  is  admitted,  that  in  some  in- 
stances, it  may  have  beneficially  affected  certain  localities,  it  has 
laid  the  deep  foundation  of  lasting  confusion,  and  opened  wide 
the  floodgates  of  error  and  fanaticism.  For  proof  of  this,  we  have 
only  to  refer  to  the  recorded  votes  of  the  last  and  the  present 
General  Assemblies,  from  which  it  abundantly  appears  that  the 
representatives  of  churches  formed  on  this  plan,  have  always  op- 
posed the  boards  of  education  and  of  missions,  and  the  efforts  to- 
wards reform,  and  the  suppression  of  errors  and  of  schismatical 
contentions. 

•'  No.  3.  '  Because  it  declares  the  said  "  Plan  of  Union"  to  have 
been  totally  destitute  of  authority,  as  proceeding  from  the  Gene- 


246  OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED. 

ral  Association  of  Connecticut,  which  is  invested  with  no  power 
lo  legislate  in  such  cases.' 

"In  reply  to  this  let  it  be  remarked,  first,  that  the  protestors, 
seeming  to  admit  that  the  General  Association  of  Connecticut 
had  no  power  and  authority  to  bind  their  churches,  yet  insist  that 
the  General  Assembly  could  make  a  treaty  or  covennnt  that  should 
be  binding  on  the  other  side;  and  the  brethren,  in  arguing  the 
case,  did  insist  on  the  '  Plan'  being  of  the  nature  of  a  covenant, 
(although  no  such  term  is  contained  in  it.)  and  yet  one  of  the  par- 
ties to  this  covenant  had  no  authority  to  make  a  contract,  and  to 
make  it  obligatory  on  their  churches.  That  is,  a  contract,  treaty, 
or  covenant,  can  exist,  and  be  and  continue  for  ever,  binding  in 
right  and  in  law  upon  one  party,  whilst  the  other  party,  having  no 
power  or  authority  to  bind  themselves,  and  those  for  whom  they 
plead  its  benefits,  never  could  be  bound.  That  is,  a  treaty  or 
covenant  may  exist,  without  a  mutual  obligation,  or  a  considera- 
tion stated. 

"  Secondly :  The  protestors,  without  distinctly  affirming  it 
again,  seem  willing  that  the  reader  of  their  protest  should  believe, 
that  the  General  Association  of  Connecticut  had  power  to  bind 
their  churches;  that  their  acts  participate  of  the  nature  of  eccle- 
siastical authority.  'By  acceding  to  the  said  stipulations,' say 
they,  '  the  said  Association  relinquished  whatever  right  it  had  to 
the  direction  and  regulation  of  the  members  of  its  own  churches 
in  the  new  seltlements.'  Now  these  remonstrants  know  perfectly 
well,  that  the  General  Association  of  Connecticut  never  had, 
never  claimed,  and  never  exercised  any  right  at  all  '  to  the  direc- 
tion and  regulation  of  the  members  of  its  own  churches,'  even  in 
Connecticut  itself,  much  less  'in  the  new  settlements.'  The  right 
of  counsel  and  advice  is  the  utmost  stretch  of  their  power  and 
authority.  And  this  General  Assembly  might  give  counsel  and 
advice  to  the  churches  of  Connecticut,  and  should  it  be  founded 
in  truth,  it  is  just  as  binding  upon  those  churches  as  the  counsels 
of  their  own  General  Association,  i.  e.  it  comes  divested  entirely 
of  all  ecclesiastical  authority. 

"  Thirdly :  The  resolution  of  abrogation  is  alleged  to  be  *  a 
breach  of  faith,  and  wholly  void  and  of  no  effect.'  This  is  beg- 
ging the  question  ;  it  goes  on  the  assumption  that  faith  was  plighted 
of  right,  and  the  treaty,  so  called,  lawfully  constituted ;  which  we 
have  supposed  to  be  the  very  point  in  question. 

"  Fourthly:  'Because  it  denominates  the  "Plan  of  Union"  un- 
natural, as  well  as  unconstitutional,  and  attributes  to  it  much  con- 
fusion and  irregularity.'  A  sufficient  answer  to  this  is  found  in 
the  preceding;  to  which  may  be  added  a  single  remark  as  to  ir- 
regularity, viz:  that  upon  inquiry  of  brethren  who  came  in  upon 
this  *  Plan,'  it  appeared  from  their  own  showing,  to  the  abundant 


OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED.  247 

conviction  of  this  General  Assembly,  that  there  were  some  mem-- 
bers-on  the  floor,  deliberating  and  voting  on  the  vary  resolutions 
in  question  who  had  never  adopted  the  Confession  of  Faith  of 
this  church." 

No.  5.  The  fifth  reason  of  protest  is,  that  the  resolution  was 
concocted  and  brought  before  ihe  Assembly,  by  members  of  this 
body,  who  had  previously  consulted  in  the  form  of  a  convention, 
and  memorialized  this  body  on  the  subject;  and  that  a  majority 
of  the  committee  to  whom  the  memorial  was  referred,  were 
members  of  the  convention. 

As  to  the  former,  let  it  suffice  to  say,  that  it  is  the  right  of 
every  free  man,  and  the  duty  of  every  Christian,  before  entering 
upon  any  great  and  important  measure,  to  "  ponder  the  path  of 
his  feet,"  because,  "in  the  multitude  of  counsellors  there  is  safe- 
ty." How  the  name  convention,  any  more  than  the  name  "cau- 
cus," should  utterly  vitiate  their  counsel,  it  may  be  difficult  to 
discern. 

As  to  the  latter,  it  may  be  remarked,  that  in  all  deliberative 
bodies,  the  principle  is  settled,  that  large  committees  ought  to  be 
selected,  in  proportion  to  the  respective  party  views  that  may  be 
entertained  on  the  subject  committed.  The  wisdom  of  the  rule 
is  obvious  to  common  sense,  and  the  moderator  of  this  Assembly 
simply  carried  out  the  rule  in  this  case. 

No.  6.  The  sixth  reason  of  protest  is,  "  because  the  debate  on 
the  subject  was  arrested,  by  an  iiTipatient  call  for  the  previous 
question.  The  Assembly  was  thus  forced  to  a  decision,  without 
any  proper  evidence  of  the  existence  of  the  alleged  irregularities, 
and  before  the  subject  of  errors  in  doctrine,  had  been  decided  on 
in  the  Assembly." 

Here  remark,  first,  the  call  for  the  previous  question  was  not 
impatient;  it  was  asked  for,  and  seconded  by  a  majority  of  the 
house,  not  in  the  spirit  of  violence,  and  unjust  oppression  of  the 
minority;  nor,  secondly,  was  there  any  unreasonable  curtailment 
of  debate.  The  resolution  was  discussed  two  whole  days,  a 
period  of  time,  perhaps,  more  extended  than  was  ever  before  al- 
lotted or  allowed  by  any  General  Assembly,  to  any  single  naked 
resolution.  And,  thirdly,  the  brethren  of  the  minority  occupied 
the  floor  more  than  one  half  of  the  time.  And  on  another  reso- 
lution, when  the  discussion  was  arrested  by  the  previous  question, 
it  was  just  at  the  close  of  two  long  speeches,  by  the  minority,  and 
after  they  had  consumed  more  than  five  hours  in  debate;  whereas, 
(he  majority  had  not  occupied  the  floor  two  hours  and  a  half.  So 
utterly  groundless  is  the  insinuation,  that  a  cruel  and  unjust  use 
has  been  made  of  the  previous  question. 

"  The  Assembly  was  thus  forced,"  say  the  protestors — "  the 
Assembly  was  forced !"     "Forced" — by  whom  ?  undoubtedly  by 


!P48  OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED. 

itself;  "forced"  to  do  as  it  wished  to  do;  "forced"  to  decide  by 
a  strong  vote,  on  a  subject  which  had  been  discussed  two  whole 
days  !     Strange  coercion,  this  ! 

But,  fourthly,  the  resolution  in  question  was  passed  before  the 
doctrinal  errors  were  condemned.  This  is  true.  But  it  is  also 
true,  that  the  "Assembly  was  thus  forced,"  by  the  opposition  of 
the  minority,  to  pass  by  the  doctrinal  discussion,  because  they 
could  not  have  it  in  the  order  recommended  by  their  cominittee. 
Certain  alleged  errors  were  ofiered  by  the  minorily,  which  they 
refused  to  have  put  in  their  proper  place,  but  insisted  upon  having, 
first  of  all,  a  decision  upon  them  as  amendments.;  which  attempt, 
had  it  been  successful,  would  have  precluded  their  discussion,  ex- 
cept upon  a  vote  of  reconsideration,  which  requires  two-thirds; 
and  thus,  the  majority  would  have  been  completel}',  as  to  these 
alleged  errors,  in  the  power  of  the  minority.  Hence  they  were 
laid  on  the  table,  to  be  taken  up  at  a  future  time. 

We  now  proceed  to  No.  1.  The  principal  reason  of  protest  is 
in  these  words,  viz:  "Because  the  said  act  is  declared,  in  the 
resolution  complained  of,  to  have  been  unconstitutional."* 

In  opposition  to  the  resolution  declaring  the  Plan  of  Union  un- 
constitutional, it  would  appear  most  reasonable,  that  the  protestors 
should  affirm  its  constitutionality  ;  {.  e.,  that  the  constitution  covers 
and  provides  for  it.  This  ground,  however,  the  protestors  have 
not  ventured  to  take.  On  the  contrary,  they  explicitly  admit, 
that  the  constitution  makes  no  provision  for  said  act ;  "it  is,"  say 
they,  "  neither  specifically  provided  for,  nor  prohibited  in  the  con- 
stitution." 

A  remark  or  two  will  show,  that  in  this  they  have  abandoned 
the  ground,  for 

1.  The  constitution  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  like  that  of 
our  national  union,  is  a  constitution  of  specific  powers,  granted 
by  the  Presbyteries,  the  fountains  of  power  to  the  Synods  and 
the  General.  Assembly. 

2.  No  powers,  not  specifically  granted,  can  lawfully  be  in- 
ferred and  assumed  by  the  General  Assembly,  but  only  such  as 
are  indispensably  necessary  to  carry  into  effect  those  which  are 
specifically  granted. 

*  Several  writers  of  aLllIty  and  discrimination,  have  writ'en  in  support 
of  this  declaration,  and  proliably  there  is  no  point,  respecting  vrhich  the 
honest  and  sensible  portion  of  our  church  are  move  fully  satisfied,  than 
that  now  before  us  ;  but  as  the  committee  who  prepared  this  answer,  was 
one  of  peculiar  ability,  candor  and  zepJ,  and  as  they  have  added  some  im- 
portant ideas  to  the  mass  presented  by  others,  thus  strengthening!;  and  deep- 
ening the  general  impression  in  regard  to  this  fundamental  principle,  we 
hinlt  it  is  important  to  insert  the  whole  answer  in  this  public  record.  It 
is  believed  to  have  been  written  by  Dr.  Geo.  Junkin,  an  d  bears  marks  of 
his  mind  and  his  pen. 


OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED.  249 

3.:  Therefore,  the  burden  of  proof  lies  upon  those  who  affirm, 
that  the  Assembly  had  power  to  enact  this  "  Plan  of  Union."  They 
admit  that  there  is  no  specific  grant  of  such  powers;  they  are 
bound  then  to  prove,  that  its  exercise  was  indispensably  necessary, 
in  order  to  carry  out  some  other  power  specifically  granted. 
Now  we  search  in  vain  for  any  such  proof  in  the  protest.  There 
is,  we  believe,  but  a  single  effort  of  the  kind.  This  effort  is  made 
in  view  of  two  distinct  and  distant  clauses  in  our  book.  (Form 
of  Gov't,  chap.  XII,  sec.  4.)  The  General  Assembly  "shall  con- 
stitute the  bond  of  union,  peace,  correspondence  and  mutual  con- 
fidence, among  all  our  churches."  But  surely  here  is  no  power 
granted  to  constitute  a  bond  of  union  with  churches  of  another 
denomination.  It  has  exclusive  reference  to  all  "our  churches;" 
and  yet  the  protestors  refer  to  this  as  authority  for  forming  a 
union  with  a  denomination  not  holding  the  same  form  of  gov- 
ernment. 

An  equally  unsuccessful  attempt  is  made,  upon  chap.  1,  sec.  2, 
where  the  book  affirms,  "  that  any  Christian  church  or  union,  or 
association  of  churches,  is  entitled  to  declare  the  terms  of  admis- 
sion into  its  communion.''^  And  the  protestors  assert  here,  that 
the  General  Assembly  exercised  this  power  in  lortning  the  "  Plan 
of  Union,"  and  so  detdared  the  "  terms  of  admission  into  the  com- 
munion, into  the  Presbyterian  Church,  proper  to  be  required  in 
the  frontier  settlements." 

On  this  statement,  two  remarks  seem  requisite :  First,  the  set- 
tling of  the  terms  of  communion,  we  had  thought  was  the  highest 
act  of  power;  an  act  beyond  the  reach  of  the  General  Assembly 
itself;  an  act  which  the  constitution  itself  provides,  shall  be  done 
only  by  a  majority  of  the  Presbyteries.  When,  we  ask,  did  the 
Presbyterian  Church  "  declare  the  terms  of  admission  into  its 
communion  V  Most  assuredly,  when  the  coiisiitution  was  adopted. 
And  yet  the  protestors,  in  this  case,  aver  that  the  "  Plan  of  Union," 
is  a  declaration  of  the  terms  of  admission  into  our  communion  ! 
Could  they  affirm  inore  directly  its  unconstitutionality. 

The  other  remark  is,  that  the  Plan  of  Union  does  not  prescribe 
the  terms  of  admission  into  the  communion  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church.  It  prescribes  the  way  in  which  Congregationalists  may 
remain  out  of  this  church,  and  yet  exercise  a  controlling  and  gov- 
erning influence  over  its  ecclesiastical  judicatories. 

In  the  entire  absence  of  all  proof,  that  the  power  exercised  in 
forming  the  Plan  of  Union,  was  indispensably  necessary  to  carry 
out  a  power,  specifically  granted,  and  in  the  face  of  their  own 
admission,  that  such  power  is  not  specifically  given  to  the  Gen- 
eral Assen^bly,  we  conclude  that  the  act  in  question  was  without 
any  authority,  and  must  be  null  and  void. 

The  next  thing  worthy  of  notice,  is  the  criticism  on  the  phrases, 


2S0  OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED. 

"constitutional  rules,"  and  "obligatory  on  all  the  churches." 
This  Plan  of  Union,  it  is  argued,  is  not  of  the  nature  of  constitu- 
tional rules,  obligatory  on  all  the  churches,  and  therefore,  it  was 
not  necessary  that  it  should  have  been  sent  down,  and  have  re- 
ceived the  sanction  of  a  majority  of  the  Presbyteries.  In  pre- 
senting this  argument,  the  protestors  admit,  that  if  the  plan  did 
embrace  constitutional  rules,  the  Assembly  had  no  power  to  enact 
it.  The  book  (Form  of  Gov.,  chap.  XII,  sec.  6)  declares:  "Be- 
fore any  overtures  or  regulations  proposed  by  the  Assembly  to 
be  established  as  constitutional  rules,  shall  be  obligatory  in  the 
churches,  it  shall  be  necessary  to  transmit  them  to  all  the  Pres- 
byteries, and  to  receive  the  returns  of  at  least  a  majority  of  them, 
in  writing,  approving  thereof." 

This  was  not  done  with  the  Plan,  and  the  only  question  before 
us  is,  whether  it  is  an  alteration  of  the  constitution.  This  Assem- 
bly affirms,  that  it  is  a  radical  and  thorough  change  of  the  entire 
system.     On  which  remark — 

1.  Our  book  describes  our  church  courts,  viz:  The  Church 
Session,  the  Presbytery,  the  Synod  and  the  General  Assembly; 
and  in  chapter  IX,  it  defines  "  the  Church  Session  to  consist  of  the 
pastor,  or  pastors  and  ruling  elders,  of  a  particular  congrega- 
tion," and  intrusts  to  these,  as  permanent  officers,  the  government 
of  that  church.  But  the  Plan  of  Union  provides  for  no  such 
thing.  It  expressly  dispenses  with  the  Church  Session,  and  leaves 
the  government  in  the  hands  of  the  people,  or  of  a  temporary 
committee. 

Again:  chap.  X,  sec.  2.  "A  Presbytery  consists  of  all  the 
ministers  and  one  ruling  elder,  from  each  congregation  within  a 
certain  district."  But  ihe  Plan  of  Union  abrogates  this  provision. 
It  does  not  merely  pass  it  by,  but  absolutely  repeals  and  nullifies 
it.  According  to  the  Plan,  a  Presbytery  may  have  committee 
men,  less  or  more  in  it,  and  may  have  not  a  single  elder.  The 
book  further  states,  that  "  every  congregation,  (?'.  e.,  of  Presbyte- 
rians as  before  described)  which  has  a  stated  pastor,  has  a  right 
to  be  represented  by  one  elder;  and  every  collegiate  church,  (^. 
e.,  a  church  with  two  or  more  ministers)  by  two  or  more  elders, 
in  proportion  to  the  number  of  pastors,"  Here,  it  is  perfectly  ob- 
vious, that  the  principle  of  equal  representation  in  Presbytery,  is 
aimed  at.  The  same  is  true  of  a  Synod,  chap.  XI.  "  The  ratio 
of  the  representation  of  elders,  in  the  Synod,  is  the  same  as  in  the 
Presbytery ;"  that  is,  every  congregation  governed  by  its  own 
Session,  shall  be  represented  in  Presbytery  and  Synod.  But  the 
Plan  provides  for  Congregational  committee  men,  sitting  and  act- 
ing, and  voting  in  Presbytery,  although  it  also  provides  that  the  con- 
gregation he  represents,  shall  not  be  under  the  government  of  the 
Presbytery,  and  no  appeal  shall  be  taken  from  it  to  the  Presby- 


OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED.  251 

tery,  even  by  a  minister,  unless  the  church  agree  to  it.  Thus  the 
power  of  government  is  in  the  hands  of  men,  over  whom  that 
government  does  not  extend.  It  is  surely  not  necessary  to  pro- 
ceed farther,  to  show  that  the  Plan  is  an  abrogation  of  the  funda- 
mental principles  of  the  Presbyterian  system ;  and  yet  the  pro- 
testors say,  it  does  not  contain  constitutional  rules.  No,  verily, 
but  it  is  a  mass  of  unconstitutional  usurpations,  resulting  from  an 
overstretch  of  power.  By  the  criticism  of  the  protest,  it  is  de- 
nied that  the  Plan  contains  constitutional  rules;  whereas,  in  the 
first  sentence  of  the  instrument  itself,  it  is  called  "a  Plan  of  Gov- 
ernment for  the  Churches,  in  the  New  Settlements.'  And  the  se- 
cond sentence  runs  thus,  "  Regulations  adopted  by  the  General 
Assembly,  &c."  Now,  if  regulations  are  not  rules,  language  has 
lost  its  meaning;  and  if  regulations,  containing  "a  Plan  of  Gov- 
ernment for  the  Churches,"  are  not  intended  to  be  binding,  and 
do  not  touch  the  constitution,  we  are  utterly  at  a  loss  to  see  how 
rules  and  regulations  could  be  expressed.  The  article  in  question 
has  been  called  "  a  Plan  of  Union,"  "  a  contract,"  "a  covenant," 
none  of  which  phrases  are  found  in  the  document  itself.  It  declares 
itself  to  be  "regulations,"  containing  "a  Plan  of  Government  for 
the  churches."  Now,  the  General  Assembly  never  had  the  power 
to  establish  "  regulations,"  and  a  new  "  Plan  of  Government ;"  the 
Plan  is  therefore  null  and  void. 

But  we  are  told,  that  these  governmental  regulations  were  not 
binding  on  "  all  the  churches."  Were  they  not,  indeed  !  Have 
they  not  given  rise  to  heterogenous  bodies,  who  have  come  up 
here  and  bound  us  almost  to  our  undoing?  Have  they  not  bound 
with  green  withes,  this  body  and  its  boards  of  education  and 
missions  ?  Have  they  not  well  nigh  shorn  us  of  the  locks  of  our 
strength,  and  forbidden  us  to  go  forth  into  the  fields  of  missionary 
conflict  against  the  foes  of  our  God  and  King?  Surely  these 
protestors  will  not  say  the  regulations  are  not  binding  upon  all 
the  churches. 

But  again,  we  are  told  in  the  protest,  they  are  of  long  stand- 
ing and  have  acquired  the  force  of  common  law.  Does  long  use 
constitute  law?  Then  it  would  follow,  that  concubinage  and  po- 
lygamy exist  of  moral  right. 

Again,  we  are  told  that  this  "  Plan  of  Government"  was  in  ex- 
istence twenty  years  prior  to  the  last  adoption  of  our  constitu- 
tion, and  the  inference  is,  that  therefore  it  is  binding,  and  was 
viewed  as  a  contract  to  be  kept  in  good  faith.  The  fair  inferen- 
ces from  the  fact,  however,  ought  to  be,  that  this  "Plan  of  Gov- 
ernment" was  not  submitted  to  our  Presbyteries,  by  the  General 
Assembly,  and  is  therefore  not  binding;  and  that  this  neglect  was 
owing  to  the  circumstance  that  it  was  then  little  known,  and  its 
evils  were  not  all  developed. 


252  OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED. 

Again,  we  are  told  in  the  protest  in  reference  to  this  new 
"  Plan  of  Government,"  that  its  omission  of  elders  being  expressly 
provided  for  and  designed,  docs  not  "vitiate  the  organization,  for 
there  must  then  be  numerous  churches  among  us,  in  which  there 
are  no  deacons,  for  the  same  reason  pronounced  unconstitutional." 
And  we  are  free  to  confess,  that  if  the  constitution  made  the  dea- 
con a  ruling  officer  in  the  church,  he  must  be  found  in  our  eccle- 
siastical courts,  and  his  absence  would  nullify  their  constitutional 
existence.  This,  however,  is  not  the  case.  The  deacon's  office, 
in  the  New  Testament,  and  in  our  book,  is  limited  to  "  serving 
tables."  The  argument,  therefore,  is  lame  and  shows  its  eastern 
birth. 

Again,  this  protest  affirms,  that  the  argument  against  this  "Plan 
of  Government  for  the  Churches,"  because  it  was  not  submitted  to 
the  Presbyteries,  strikes  equally  against  the  theological  semina- 
ries, the  boards  of  education  and  of  missions,  and  also  against  the 
admission  of  the  Presbyteries  of  the  Associate  Reformed  Synod, 
into  this  church. 

Let  us  touch  these  in  their  order;  and  first,  the  theological 
seminaries.  Here  again,  if  these  protestors  can  show  that  these 
seminaries  are,  in  the  language  of  our  book,  "  constitutional 
rules,  obligatory  on  the  churches,"  or  even,  in  the  language  of 
their  favorite  plan,  "  regulations"  and  "  a  Plan  of  Government  for 
the  Churches  in  the  New  Settlements,"  we  will  give  up  the  argu- 
ment, and  Princeton  and  the  Western  Seminaries,  and  all.  But 
if,  as  every  one  knows,  the  constitutions  and  regulations  of  these 
seminaries,  have  nothing  to  do  with  the  government  of  the  churches 
any  more  than  the  private  regulations  of  a  private  clergyman, 
for  his  private  class  of  students,  then  is  this  argument  null  and 
void  from  the  beginning.  As  to  the  power  in  the  Assembly  to 
organize  a  seminary,  it  may  be  found  in  the  bool;,  (Form  of  Gov. 
chap.  XII,  sec.  5)  under  the  general  power  of  "superintending 
the  concerns  of  the  whole  church,"  none  of  which  concerns  is  of 
more  vital  importance,  than  that  of  providing  an  efficient  minis- 
try ;  also,  to  them  belongs  the  power  of  "  promoting  charity, 
truth  and  holiness,  through  aJI  the  churches  under  their  care."  Now, 
the  training  of  a  pious  and  orthodox  ministry,  is  the  most  effectual 
mode  of  accomplishing  this  work,  and  clearly  places  theological 
seminaries  within  the  Assembly's  power. 

The  same  remarks  are  relevant  and  true,  in  reference  to  the 
board  of  education. 

As  to  the  board  of  missions,  "the  superintending  of  the  con- 
cerns of  the  whole  church,"  cannot  be  carried  out  without  mis- 
sions,  and  the  Form  of  Government,  chap.  XVIII,  expressly 
provides  for  them,  and  grants  to  the  Assembly  power  over  this 
very  business;  it  reads  thus:     "The  General  Assembly  may,  of 


Oli5  school  vindicated.  253 

their  own  knowledge,  send  missions  to  any  part,  to  plant  churches 
or  to  supply  vacancies;  and  fur  this  purpose,  may  direct  any 
Presbytery  to  ordain  evangelists  or  ministers,  without  relation  to 
any  particular  churclies."  How  utterly  unreasonable  then  for 
the  protestors  to  deny  the  Assembly's  power,  to  institute  a  board 
of  missions. 

As  to  the  Mason  Library  and  the  Associate  Reformed  Churches, 
it  may  be  necessnry  only  to  remark,  that  the  two  Presbyteries  of 
New  York  and  Philadelphia,  the  only  parts  which  came  into  this 
Presbyterian  Church,  were  from  their  beginning  Presbyterian, 
according  to  the  strictest  order,  holding  the  same  identical  Con- 
fession of  Faith  and  Presbyterian  Form  of  Church  Government ; 
it  is,  therefore,  ditiicult  to  perceive  how  the  admission,  by  the 
General  Assembly,  of  strict  and  rigid  Presbyterians,  into  their 
connexion,  could  be  either  extra  or  unconstitutional.  The  act  of 
their  admission  did  not  create  "  regulations"  and  a  "Plan  of  Gov- 
ernment for  the  Churches,"  as  did  the  Plan  in  question  ;  it  was  not 
an  "  overture  or  regulation  for  establishing  constitution;il  rules, 
obligatory  upon  the  churches,"  and  therefore  its  transmission  to 
all  the  Presbyteries  was  not  necessary. 

Fina'ily :  The  unconstitutionality  of  the  "Plan  of  Union  for  the 
Government  of  the  Churches,  in  the  New  Settlements,"  abrogated 
by  this  resolution,  is  farther  demonstrated  by  a  reference  to  Form 
of  Government,  chap.  XII,  sec.  1,  which  says :  "  The  General  As- 
sembly is  the  highest  judicatory  in  the  Presbyterian  Church ;  it 
shall  represent,  in  one  body,  all  the  particular  churches  of  this 
denomination  ;"  and  subsequently,  it  defines  the  ratio  of  repre- 
sentation. Now,  it  has  been  proved  on  the  open  floor  of  this 
General  Assembly,  by  the  protestors  themselves,  that  the  ISynod 
of  the  Western  Reserve,  which  was  formed  on  this  "  Plan  of 
Government,"  and  which  contains  one  hundred  and  thirty-nine  par- 
ticular churches,  has  only  from  twenty-four  to  thirty  Presbyte- 
rian Churches  in  it;  and  yet,  that  Synod  claim  a  right  to  twenty 
representatives  here!  Whom  do  these  twenty  represent  ?  Cer- 
tainly not  "particular  churches  of  this  denomination,"  as  our 
book  snys.  No,  but  Congregational  Churches,  which  by  the 
terms  of  our  book,  and  the  whole  representative  spirit  of  our  sys- 
tem, have  no  right  to  be  represented  here,  and  to  jiidge  and  vote 
here,  under  a  coHstitulioti  which  they  deny  to  be  binding  upon 
themselves.  W^ith  no  greater  impropriety  would  unnaturalized 
foreigners  claim  the  right  of  franchise  in  our  country,  and  of  eli- 
gibility to  oflice  in  our  legislatures,  our  supreme  judicial  tribunals, 
and  the  executive  departments  of  our  states  and  of  the  nation. 
Besides,  it  has  been  shown  by  themselves  here,  that  this  "  Plan  of 
Government"  has  been  here  violated,  by  those  claiming  privileges 


254  OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED. 

under  it,  sending  men  to  the  Assembly  who  had  never  adopted 
our  constitution. 

We  therefore  conclude,  that  the  reasoning  of  the  protestors  is 
fallacious;  the  "  Plan  of  Government,"  adopted  in  1801,  is,  and 
ever  has  been  unconstitutional,  and  therefore  this  General  Assem- 
bly ought  to  declare,  as  it  has  done  in  the  resolution  protested 
against,  that  it  is,  from  the  beginning,  null  and  void. 


CHAPTER   XXI. 

Mortification  and  designs  of  the  exscinded  company — Considerations  on  the 
pecuniary  terras  offered  by  the  majority — Estimate  of  the  claims  of  the 
New  England  body. 

On  considering  the  situation  of  the  New  School  party,  after 
their  ejection  from  the  Presbyterian  Church,  it  must  be  perceived 
that  they  had  cause  for  profound  and  cutting  mortification.  They 
had  hoped  and  looked  for  protracted  warfare,  relying  upon  their 
skill  and  prowess,  to  turn  the  tide  again  in  their  favour.  But 
when  they  found  themselves,  in  the  midst  of  their  buoyant  and 
delusive  anticipations,  suddenly  and  irresistibly  struck  with  this 
masterly  and  statesmanlike  coup  de  main,  placing  them  univer- 
sally and  entirely  without  the  limits  of  our  ecclesiastical  connex- 
ion, desperation  took  -the  place  of  their  deceptive  illusion.  Had 
they  peacefully  acquiesced  in  the  measure,  knowing,  as  must  ne- 
cessarily have  been  the  fact,  that  their  whole  habitual  and  deter- 
mined course  of  action  was  absolutely  uncongenial  and  irrecon- 
cilable with  the  elements,  the  structure,  integral  features  of  the 
Presbyterian  body,  which,  sickened  and  distracted  with  their 
anomalous  and  incurable  disorders,  had,  as  a  last  resort,  cast 
them  out,  as  an  heterogeneous  and  intolerable  incubus,  to  seek 
some  new  and  congenial  associations,  they  might  have  exhibited 
some  traits  of  dignity,  self-respect,  and  Christian  decorum,  which 
would  have  deterred  them  from  the  unlawful  and  undermining 
struggles  in  church  and  state  with  which  they  now  stand  con- 
victed and  stigmatized  through  the  whole  Christian  world. 

In  this  sudden  and  overwhelming  change  of  circumstances, 
their  first  attempt  was,  by  an  intrigue  as  degrading  as  it  was 
shallow,  disorderly,  and  violent,  to  regain,  by  arrogant  demands, 
their  standing  in  the  church,  which,  from  pure  disgust,  had  dis- 
owned and  repudiated  them.  At  the  same  time,  they  manifested 
a  strong  desire  to  monopolize  the  loaves  and  fishes,  a  moiety  of 
which  had  been  gratuitously  offered  to  them,  at  the  last  meeting 


OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED.  255 

of  the  General  Assembly,  on  an  amicable  arrangement  then  pro- 
posed for  dividing  the  church.  In  their  perfect  infatuation  and 
extravagant  aims,  they  hoped  to  place  themselves  in  a  higher 
sphere,  under  a  new  name,  for  the  gratification  of  their  pride  and 
ambition,  and  for  the  admiration  ot  the  present  generation;  but 
through  the  entire  failure  of  all  their  schemes  and  efforts,  they 
have  become  sensible  that  the  want  of  pure  faith,  true  consistency, 
and  sound  discretion,  have  brought  upon  them  the  frown  of  Divine 
Providence,  and  the  disapprobation  and  disgust  of  all  good  men; 
for  it  is  an  immutable  truth,  "  The  face  of  the  Lord  is  against 
them  that  do  evil." 

On  inspecting  the  pecuniary  account,  it  will  be  seen  that  the 
terms  offered  to  the  New  School,  by  the  General  Assembly  of 
1837,  in  their  proposed  compromise,  were  large  and  liberal,  far 
beyond  what  justice  would  require.  In  dividing  the  funds  sus- 
ceptible of  division,  on  lawful  principles,  no  more  equitable  stan- 
dard to  be  governed  by  could  probably  be  suggested,  than  the 
relative  numbers  of  the  respective  parties.  On  examining  the 
lists,  it  will  be  found  that  the  New  School  numbered  and  claimed 
at  most  about  five  hundred  ministers,  which  would  leave  in  the 
Presbyterian  Church  about  one  thousand  four  hundred  and  fifty 
ministers,  and,  including  ministers  abroad  and  Presbyteries  who 
have  not  reported,  would  enlarge  the  amount  to  fifteen  hundred. 
Hence,  on  the  foundation  of  justice,  leaving  out  of  view  every  op- 
posing consideration,  the  largest  amount  of  the  disposable  funds 
which  the  New  School  could  ai  all  pretend  to  claim,  would  be 
one-third,  or  less.  But  the  overture  for  pacific  adjustment  shows 
that  the  Old  School  assented  to  the  proposal  of  an  equal  division. 
This  is  considered,  on  the  part  of  the  majority,  evidence  of  strong 
desire,  not  only  to  do  full  justice,  but  to  extend  great  favour  to 
the  weaker  party,  at  the  moment  of  separation. 

In  ascertaining  the  correct  state  of  this  account,  and  striking  a 
balance,  it  is  of  no  small  importance  to  inquire  which  of  these 
parties  contributed  most  to  the  accumulation  of  the  funds  in  ques- 
tion. Some  facts  may  be  collected  from  unquestionable  ecclesi- 
astical records,  for  our  guidance  on  this  subject.  Before  the  New 
School  were  fully  formed  and  recognized  in  the  church,  a  portion 
of  these  funds  were  already  in  hand.  Nothing  is  more  fully  sus- 
ceptible of  proof,  if  not  already  impressed  on  every  man's  memo- 
ry, than  the  fact  that  far  the  greater  part  of  the  whole  amount 
was  contributed  by  the  Presbyterians  of  the  old  stamp.  The  New 
School,  even  when  few  in  number,  in  general,  never  would,  and 
never  did,  give  a  pro  rata  proportion  of  their  church  funds  to  the 
General  Treasury,  and  that  proportion  rather  decreased,  than  in- 
creased wiih  their  growth.  Their  sympathies  for  New  England, 
the  A.  B.  C.  F.  Missions,  the  Home  Missionary  Society,  the 


1^56  OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED. 

Presbyterian  Education  Society,  and  other  nninor  institutions,  be- 
gan early  and  increasingly  to  distort  their  feelings  and  their  char- 
itable energies  in  the  church  ;  so  that  of  the  moneys  raised  in  the 
churches  lor  benevolent   purposes,  fractions  and  reserves  were 
kept  back  for  the  avowed  purpose  of  indulging  their  acknowledged 
predilections  for  New  England  societies.     In  the  Synod  of  New 
Jersey,  this  practice  was  kept  up  for  many  years,  and  openly  ad- 
vocated by  men  of  some  popularity  and  distinction,*  who,  from 
personal  influence,  procured  a  heavy  vote  in  favour  of  this  course 
of  action.     Warm  debates  and  struggles  often  agitated  the  Synod 
on  this  subject. f     The  contributions  which  swelled  the  amount  of 
the  funds  in  question,  came  chiefly  from  the  Old  School  churches, 
and  Old  School  pastors,  in  the  principal  cities,  large  towns  and 
villages,  and  opulent  country  congregations,  who  were,  for  a  long 
time,  almost  universally  free  from  New  Scthool  obliquit3^     In  set- 
tling this  question,  or  forming  a  correct  opinion  upon  the  subject, 
it  is  right  to  embrace  in  our  view,  the  notorious  fact,  that  the  de- 
formed and  dishonest  devotion  of  the  New  School  to  New  Eng- 
land societies,  prompted  them  to  such  measures  in  collecting  mo- 
ney, from  pure  Presbyterian  districts,  as  to  impair  the  resources 
of  the  church,  and  divert  them  into  foreign  channels.     The  feel- 
ings and  aflxjctions  of  the  honest  and  unsuspecting  people,  were, 
in  many  cases,  alienated  from  their  own  church  to  serve  another; 
the  regular  operations  of  sound  Presbyteries  were  deranged   by 
the  artful   and  disorganizing  interference  of  strangeis.     Agents 
of  New  England  societies  overran  the  whole  church,  to  collect 
money,  and  awaken  sympathy  for  rival  institutions.     It  seemed 
of  little  avail  to  complain  of  such  men  as  trespassers,  disturb- 
ing the  church,  filching  her  treasures,  disatrecting  her  congrega- 
tions, interfering  with  her  boards,  seizing  upon  funds  which  pro- 
perly belonged  to  the  uncorrupted  Presbyterian  Church.     These 
were  the  men  who   had  come  in  among  us  "  unawares"  on   the 
platform  of   1801.     They   were   bound   by  solemn   sanctions  to 
build  up  the  Presbyterian  Church  ;  but,  behold,  instead  of  contri- 
buting to  her  aggrandisement,  they  are  constantly  robl)ing  it;  in- 
stead of  strengthening   her,  they  make   it  their   chief  work   to 
weaken  and  distract  her,  to  block  up  the  channels  of  order,  and 
introduce  confusion.     Now,  had  these  intruders  been  faithful  to 
their  vows,  and  used  as  much  zeal  to  enrich  and  adorn  the  church 
as  they  have  to  impair  and  destroy  her,  had  they  honestly  per- 
formed the  work  assumed,  faithfully  discharged  their  duty,  given 
their  funds  in  good  measure  and  good  season,  how  much  fuller 
would   have   been   her  treasury,  how   much    more  strong   and 

*  Such  men  as  the  very  escBllent  and  respected  Dr.  Samuel  Fislier. 
t  In  this,  the  writer  cannot  be  mistaken,  having  frequently  participated 
in  these  controversies. 


OLD    SCHOOL    VhVDIGATED.  257 

elevated  would  the  church  have  appeared  at  this  day.  But  these 
are  the  men,  after  all  their  neglect,  their  misapplication  of  Pres- 
byterian funds,  their  hostility  and  overt  acts  against  the  church, 
who  come  forward  and  unblushingly  demand  her  property;  even 
call  the  whole  church  into  a  civil  court,  with  very  little  object  in 
View,  but  to  make  a  vain  and  empty  show  of  themselves  and  to 
embezzle  the  funds,  acquired  in  the  manner  stated,  before  a  New 
tSchool  judge,  who  seemed  inclined  very  strongly  to  help  out  their 
dishonest  enterprise.  All  this  they  performed  or  attempted,  after 
having,  by  their  heretical  departures  for  many  years  from  the 
standards  of  the  church  which  they  had  sworn  to  support;  after 
labouring  incessantly,  for  a  long  period,  to  divide,  corrupt,  and 
overthrow  the  church,  by  encroaching,  deranging,  and  subversive 
measures,  secret  and  insidious,  or  open  and  darit)g,  as  the  preced- 
ing history  fully  proves. 

The  principle  has  been  long  and  firmly  established  by  the  deci- 
sions of  the  highest  judicial  tribunals  in  Europe  and  America, 
that  in  cases  of  intestine  commotion  and  division,  and  ultimate 
separation  of  parties  in  ecclesiastical  bodies,  on  the  ground  of 
heresy,*  the  orthodox  portion,  of  course,  retain  the  name,  the  or- 
ganization, the  power,  the  property,  and  the  rights  pertaining  con- 
stitutionally to  the  original  body.  The  intruders,  the  dissenters, 
or  revolutionists,  forfeit  every  claim  to  estate  or  property,  per- 
sonal or  real,  except  so  far  as  the  pure  and  uncontaminated  ad- 
herents of  the  orthodox  principles  and  policy,  may  voluntarily 
choose  to  differ,  as  a  matter  of  gratuitous  favour. 

*  The  Presbyterian  Church  case  was  not  one  of  that  kind.  There  was 
no  charge  of  heresy.  Hence,  Judge  Gibson,  in  delivering  the  opinion  of 
the  court,  (see  Judd,  p.  203,)  distinctly  states  :  "  We  were  called,  hovrever, 
to  pass,  not  on  a  question  ot  heresy,  for  we  would  have  been  incompetent  to 
decide  it,  but  on  the  regularity  of  the  meeting,  at  which  the  trustees  were 
chosen.  That  the  Old  School  party  succeeded  to  the  privileges  and  property 
of  the  Assembly,  was  not  because  it  was  more  Presbyterian  than  the  other, 
but  because  it  was  stronger."  This  decision  was  controlled  merely  by  the 
amount  of  numbers,  and  comparative  strength  of  parties.  The  questions 
of  orthodoxy  and  order  were  only  incidentally  referred  to  in  the  decision, 
though  fully  established  in  the  evidence.  Had  both  been  embraced  in  the 
enquiry,  the  New  School  would  have  been  more  overwhelmingly  cast  down. 
They  complain  that  they  were  not  tried.  They  moved  the  suit  upon  a 
mere  question  of  law,  because  they  were  afraid  to  go  into  the  merits  of  the 
case.  Thus  it  is  clearly  seen,  that  the  judgment  of  the  court  was  pro- 
nounced upon  a  principle  entirely  different  from  that  on  which  the  Abro- 
gation rested.  Both  were  just  and  appropriate.  Either  sufficient  to  war- 
rant and  sustain  the  decision  issued  upon  it.  And  if  both  are  viewed  to- 
gether, and  the  fact  of  lioresy  is  superadded,  on  what  ground  would  the 
misorab'e  ejected  party  tlien  stand?  But  they  are  all,  substantially,  com' 
"irehended  in  those  historic  illustrations  and  results. 
11 


258  OLD    SCHOOL    VIXDIGATED. 


CHAPTER    XXII. 

The  design  and  attempt  of  the  New  School,  by  intrigue  an<l  violence,  it 
necessary,  to  substitute  their  mockery  in  the  place  of  the  constitutional 
organization  of  the  General  Assembly  of  1838 — Their  riotous  conduct 
— Their  suit  before  Nisi  Pritis  in  Philadelphia,  to  obtain  the  church 
bodily. 

Facts  justify  the  belief,  that  the  exscinded  Synods,  by  their 
leaders,  intended,  if  possible,  first  of  all,  to  regain  their  places  in 
the  Presbyterian  body.  Though  it  is  really  difficult  to  conceive 
how  their  pride,  their  self-respect,  and  their  wounded  honour, 
could  allow  them  to  think  for  a  moment  of  desiring  to  associate 
again  with  a  company  of  men,  who  had  so  unceremoniously,  as 
they  alleged,  cast  them  out  of  their  union,  as  unworthy  of  it,  or 
unfit  for  it.  But  an  interim  of  a  year  between  the  last  and  the, 
next  General  Assembly,  gave  them  a  full  opportunity  to  devise  a 
plan  of  procedure,  which  they  thought  better  adapted  to  their 
vievi's.  This  plan,  succeeding  disclosures  proved  to  consist  of  a 
covered  design,  by  art  and  violence  combined,  by  one  of  the 
grossest  instances  of  humbuggery  the  world  can  show,  to  efieci  a 
substitution  of  themselves,  en  masse,  for  the  orthodox  body,  and 
manoeuvre  the  majority  entirely  out  of  the  house,  they  remaining 
as  the  sole  possessors.  For  this  purpose,  they  had  agreed  to  con- 
gregate in  numbers  in  the  General  Assembly,  at  the  opening  ot 
their  meeting  in  Ranstead  Court,  rudely  to  rush  upon  them,  to  in- 
terrupt their  regular  proceedings,  throw  them  into  disorder,  and, 
in  the  confusion  of  the  moment,  created  by  themselves  for  the 
purpose,  to  get  up  a  mock  organization  of  their  own  corrupt  ma- 
terials; thus  to  prostrate  and  extinguish  the  General  Assembly  of 
the  Presbyterian  Church,  if  possible,  altogether,  call  themselves 
by  the  same  name,  claim  to  be  the  true  body,  seize  upon  what- 
ever property  of  the  church  they  could  lay  their  hands  upon,  and 
sue  for  the  balance  wherever  their  rapacity  failed  to  reach  it. 

In  the  prosecution  of  this  desperate  scheme,  their  first  step  was 
to  procure  an  adviser  in  the  premises  :  and  it  is  to  be  regretted, 
that  they  hit  upon  a  man  of  so  little  wit,  discretion,  or  integrity, 
to  dictate  in  this  very. critical  emergency.  The  plan  of  the  con- 
spiracy* being  arranged  by  their  "  counsel,"  as  they  pronounced 

*  The  following  extract  from  Dr.  Judd's  book,  p.  1G4,  confirms  facts 
stated  above.  The  writer  being  located  in  the  seat  immediately  in  the  rear 
of  Mr.  Cleaveland,  had  a  near  and  distinct  view  of  the  paper  from  which 
he  read,  and  could  even  have  read  it  himself,  and  is  fully  confident,  there- 
fore, that  this  document  differs  considerably,  in  length  and  substance,  from 
the  original,  -which  could  not  be  obtained.  "  As  the  commissioners  from  a 
large  number  of  Presbyteries  have  been  denied  their  seats  in  this  house, 


OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED.  259 

him,  "  learned  in  the  law,"  the  scene  of  development  selected  was 
the  floor  of  the  General  Assembly,  in  the  church  of  Ranstead 
Court,  at  about  three  o'clock,  P.  M.,  on  the  opening  of  the  As- 
sembly. Their  conscript  fathers,  their  Cataline  and  Cethegus, 
&c.,  &;c.,  all  being  designated,  enrolled,  and  instructed,  are 
promptly  present  at  the  decisive  hour;  though  personally  visible, 
yet  perfectly  disguised,  and  their  designs  covered  with  midnight 
darkness,  except  as  to  a  few  old  side  men,  who  may  have  had 
some  knowledge  of  what  was  to  follow.  A  multitude,  of  all 
characters,  sexes,  and  ages,  appeared  anxiously  crowding  round, 
some  in  the  gallery,  and  some  in  the  church  below,  as  if  some 
intimation  had  been  given  them  of  the  exhibition  intended,  or  that 
their  aid,  in  some  way,  might  be  needed  to  carry  out  the  con- 
spiracy. Now,  without  any  outbreak,  or  overt  act  disturbing  the 
meeting,  on  a  simple  disclosure,  or  detection  of  the  fact,  that  such 
a  brigand,  under  concealment,  banded  together,  under  a  mis- 
chievous written  article  or  bond  of  union,  of  an  absent  leader, 
with  matured  designs  to  interrupt  one  of  the  most  solemn  assem- 
blies upon  earth,  to  derange,  to  supplant,  to  overthrow,  the  whole 
Assembly  :  to  usurp  their  powers,  to  occupy  their  places,  to  in- 
validate their  trusts,  to  seize  their  property ;  what  opinion  would 
be  formed  by  intelligent,  upright,  impartial  judges,  of  such  a  coni' 
pany  of  assailants,  so  organized  and  circumstanced  ?  especially 
when  it  is  recollected  that  the  great  majority  of  this  Assembly 
were  ministers  of  Jesus  Christ,  met  by  his  authority,  and  upon  the 
business  of  his  earthly  kingdom,  commencing  their  proceedings 
under  their  own  established  vjiles  and  usages  ?  Would  they  not 
consider  the  purity  of  the  hall  occupied,  profanely  invaded?  the 
conscientious  rights  of  the  Assembly  unrighteously  impugned  / 
the  principles  of  order  and  decency,  by  law  secured  to  all  reli- 
gious bodies  of  men,  completely  outraged?  But  what  shall  we 
think,  when  these  combined  assailants,  throwing  oft' their  disguise, 
assuming  their  true  character,  and  each  beginning  to  perform  the 
part  secretly  assigned  him,  in  the  tumultuous  drama,  by  reading* 
their  own  documentary  history  of  their  combination,  making  mo- 

and  as  Tve  hare  been  advised  by  counsel  learned  in  the  law,  that  a  consti- 
tutional Assembly  must  be  organized  at  this  time  and  place,  he  trusted  it 
would  not  Ije  considered  an  act  f>f  discourtesy,  but  merely  of  necessity,  if 
we  now  proceed  to  organize  the  Assembly  of  1838.  in  the  fewest  words,  and 
in  the  shortest  time,  and  with  the  least  interruption  practicable.  I  there- 
fore move,  th:(,t  C.  N.  S.  Beraan,  from  the  Presbytery  of  Troy,  take  the 
chair."  This  rude  and  disorderly  assault  upon  the  Cfeneral  Assembly, 
struck  them  like  an  armed  force,  in  the  midst  of  their  regular  proceedings, 
in  the  organization  of  the  body,  in  strict  conformity  with  the  letter  of  the 
Book  of  Discipline,  established  rules,  and  prescribed  order.  The  Assem- 
bly, of  course,  suspended  action  in  perfect  astonishment,  and  allowed  the 
disorderly,  tumultuous  intruders,  to  get  through  with  their  mock-move- 
ment, when  they  resumed  business. 


260  OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED. 

lions,  stamping  feet,  uttering  conflicting  and  unearthly  sounds, 
from  all  sexes,  ages,  positions,  and  directions,  overwhelming  all 
business,  impressing  the  quiet  and  orderly  assembly  wiih  astonish- 
ment and  dismay,  following  up  this  profound  and  appalling  con- 
fusion, amidst  shouts  and  screams,  tnaking  motions  and  calling 
for  votes,  with  a  violent  rush,  exhibiting  in  numbers  and  violence, 
the  extent  of  the  revolutionary  movement,  which  had  clandestinely 
gained  access  to  the  house — would  not  any  sane  discreet  man,  on 
beholding  these  extravagant  and  unparalelled  exhibitions,  be  im- 
jiressed  with  the  belief  that  the  actors  were  rather  a  company 
broken  loose  from  a  lunatic  asylum,  or  a  state  penitentiary,  than 
nn  association  of  grave  and  dignified  ministers  of  any  church? 
This  plain  statement  will  show  that  ihe  object  which  they  were 
vainly  labouring  to  accomplish,  was  that  of  forcing  themselves 
back,  on  some  principle  not  fully  disclosed,  into  that  church  and 
Assembly  of  which  they  had  recently  been  declared,  on  account 
of  their  false  principles  and  disorderly  conduct,  to  be  no  longer 
members,  or  of  seizing  the  whole  church  as  their  own. 

In  the  honest  state  of  New  Jersey,  they  would  have  been  called 
a  mob ;  they  would  have  been  characterized  as  rioters,  legally 
liable  to  indictment,  punishable  with  fines  and  imprisonment,  for 
clandestinely  and  violently  disturbing  a  religious  Assembly. 

The  idea  of  attempting  gravely  to  analyze  and  discuss  the 
course  of  such  a  band  of  lawless  intruders  step  by  step,  to  decide 
its  constitutional  course  and  procedure,  in  common  sense,  law,  or 
justice,  is  perfectly  preposterous.  And  if  the  counsellors,  whose 
opinions  they  have  so  boastfully  spread  out  before  the  public,  had 
honestly  declared  to  them,  as  they  certainly  ought  when  applica- 
tion was  made  for  their  opinions,  that  they  had  acted  like  a  com- 
pany of  outlaws,  and  could  expect  no  protection  or  indulgence 
from  the  legal  tribunals  of  the  land,  they  would  have  saved  the 
courts  of  Pennsylvania  from  much  burdensome  labour,  the  appli- 
cants from  expense  and  disgrace,  and  themselves  from  extensive 
and  justly  merited  disapprobation. 

But  the  task  of  a  formal  legal  investigation,  they  forcibly,  under 
the  sanction  of  legal  advisers,  imposed  upon  the  court  of  Nisi 
Prius,  in  Pennsylvania,  with  a  view  to  justify  their  tumultuous 
and  disorderly  conduct,  and  to  secure  the  spoils  of  the  churcli 
they  there  sought  to  destroy-  This  resort  to  law,  before  a  secular 
tribunal,  was  in  violation  of  the  fundamental  principle  of  Protest- 
antism, viz:  That  the  Church  of  Jesus  Christ  is  independent  of 
she  civil  power,  and  not  amenable,  while  she  commits  no  civil  of- 
fence, to  the  bar  of  Caesar.  Honest  devotion  to  this  fundamental 
principle  of  religious  liberty  and  gospel  religion,  inspired  the  Free 
Church  of  Scotland,  in  its  defence  and  establishment  of  this  sacred 
foundation,  in  defiance  of  the  secular  arm. 


OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED.  261 

To  make  this  appeal  to  Cossar  successful,  a  jury  was  obtained 
in  the  court  of  JVisi  Prius,  of  an  order  well  adapted  to  the  end 
pursued.  As  the  Old  School  have  always  protested  against  liti- 
gation, or  acknowledgment  at  all,  of  civil  power  in  ecclesiastical 
affairs,  Dr.  Judd  pronounces  it  very  inconsistent  in  the  Old  School  to 
•'  apply  to  the  court  for  a  new  trial,  after  the  decision  against  them  in 
the  court  below."  After  having  violently,  and  according  to  the  rules 
of  the  church,  illegally  compelled  them  to  appear  before  a  civil 
tribunal,  which  was  considered  by  the  public  generally  prejudiced 
against  them,  and  in  which,  in  the  course  of  trial,  one  of  the  emi- 
nent advocates  of  the  prosecutors  attempted  to  increase  lha.i  pre- 
judice, as  was  manifest  to  every  observer,  could  it  possibly  be 
regarded  as  unreasonable  or  unrighteous,  that  the  Old  School 
party,  injured  and  oppressed  as  they  were,  should  be  willing  to 
let  the  same  court,  more  fully  assembled,  review  the  case,  exam- 
ine the  evidence,  and  reverse  or  sustain  the  sentence,  as  appeared 
to  them  to  be  right  ? 

That  suit,  once  commenced,  based  upon  false  history  and  nu- 
merous charges  wholly  insupported  by  evidence,  in  violation  of  a 
'ong  train  of  unimpeachable  ecclesiastical  records,  the  idea  of 
compromise,  concession,  of  retreat,  of  surrendering  funds,  to  a 
company  possessing  no  claims  to  them,  was  entirely  futile.  At 
the  crisis  when  negotiation  was  atternpied,  the  New  School  re- 
fused a  spontaneous  bona  fide  offer  of  a  full  half  of  the  whole 
property  of  the  church,  legally  disposable,  and  upon  that  broad 
and  immovable  fact,  we  leave  this  branch  of  the  subject  in  con- 
troversy, to  the  estimate  and  decision  of  an  impartial  public.  It 
might  justly  be  added,  that  the  mischiefs  this  party  had  been  do- 
ing, and  attempting  in  the  Presbyterian  Church,  for  twenty  years 
preceding  the  abrogation,  and  the  mighty,  sweeping  desolation 
they  intended,  could  they  only  acquire  the  requisite  power,  are 
matters  so  much  of  public  notoriety,  as  to  expose  their  designs 
and  graduate  their  turpitude,  in  the  most  ample  manner.  Instead, 
therefore,  of  sustaining  their  spurious  and  unchristian  litigation, 
the  whole  company  ought  to  have  been  reached,  under  a  crimi- 
nal process,  for  disturbing  the  peace  of  the  church,  and  intro- 
ducing disorder  and  confusion  into  the  house  of  God. 


262  OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED. 


CHAPTER    XXIII. 

Court  in  Banc — Judge  Gibson  presiding,  &c — Explanatory  remarks — Ar- 
guments of  the  Hon.  John  Sergeant — Three  points  particularly  dis- 
cussed. 1.  The  principles  of  religious  freedom  and  the  rights  of  con- 
science; the  argument  by  implication,  denying  the  jurisdiction  of  the 
court,  in  ecclesiastical  and  spiritual  matters.  2.  Justifying  the  organi- 
zation and  proceedings  of  the  General  Assembly  of  1837.  3.  A  vindica- 
tion of  Dr.  Elliott,  and  the  party  who  supported  him,  in  the  Assembly  of 
1838. 

At  first  glance,  it  seems  very  absurd,  to  set  men  whose  heads 
and  hearts  are  habitually  and  laboriously  occupied,  with  the  in- 
tricacies and  quibbles  of  civil  law,  to  investigate  questions  of 
a  purely  moral  and  spiritual  nature  ;  and  such  a  measure  assumes 
a  more  unwarrantable  and  repulsive  character,  when  the  fact  is 
recognized,  that  the  constitutions  of  both  church  and  state  pro- 
hibit it.  The  constitution  of  Pennsylvania  declares,  "  that  every 
man  shall  worship  God  in  his  own  way — that  no  human  authori- 
ty, in  any  case  whatever,  can  control  or  interfere  with  the  rights 
of  conscience."  But  the  relators  (as  the  New  School  are  techni- 
cally called  in  this  suit)  have  forcibly  introduced  this  controvery 
to  a  civil  tribunal.  After  refusing  a  liberal  proposal  by  the  Old 
School,  to  compromise  the  matters  in  controversy,  they  pressed  it 
into  the  court  of  Nisi  Prius,  in  Pennsylvania;  and  its  presentment 
for  argument  in  the  Supreme  Court  of  this  state,  is  a  matter  of 
course,  as  well  as  of  right,  on  the  part  of  the  respondents.  The 
New  School  are  therefore  the  responsible  party,  and  to  be  cen- 
sured for  all  the  scandal  to  religion,  and  inflammatory  effects 
among  the  parties,  that  may  result  from  this  process. 

The  fruitless  attempt  made,  1837,  in  Ranstead  Court,  by  these 
parties,  to  divide  and  separate  amicably,  shows  the  impropriety 
and  impracticability  of  their  remaining  together,  and  if  once  sepa- 
rated, of  ever  uniting  or  coming  together  again,  peaceably.  There 
was  an  irreconcilable  opposition  in  their  integral  elements,  their 
ideas,  their  habits,  their  objects,  and  universal  tendency  of  mind, 
character  and  life,  which  must  forever  prevent  their  harmonizing 
and  constituting  a  uniform  homogeneous  body.  There  seemed  to 
exist  insurmountable,  moral  and  conscientious  diflerences,  which 
neither  party  was  willing  to  sacrifice.  The  same  causes,  or  ir- 
reconcilable discrepancies,  which  prevented  their  agreeing  to  di- 
vide, prevented  their  continuing  together,  and  must  secure  their 
permanent  separation.  A  division  must  take  place.  That  sepa- 
ration which  the  parties  could  not,  or  would  not  effect,  no  other 
power  has  a  right  to  compel  or  enforce.     This  would  violate  the 


OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED.  268 

rights  of  conscience  and  impair  religious  liberty.  Where,  then, 
shall  an  umpire  be  found  to  settle  this  religious  controversy? 
Civil  power,  the  arbiter  in  civil  disputes,  has  no  right  to  intermed- 
dle with  spiritual  interests  and  moral  obligations.  Calming  the 
tumult — harmonizing  these  discordant  elements,  must  be  left  to 
the  religious  community  itself,  however  heterogeneous  the  mass 
and  difficult  the  work.  They  must  recur  to  their  own  constitu- 
tion and  laws;  search  into  the  facts  and  principles  of  their  pre- 
vious organization  and  action ;  apply  the  law  and  testimony,  and 
form  a  separation,  according  to  the  whole  collected  and  concen- 
trated body  of  facts  and  circumstances.  A  majority  of  the  whole 
is  the  only  power  recognized  in  our  ecclesiastical  constitution,  to 
perform  this  work;  and  with  the  result  of  its  action  no  power 
upon  earth  has  a  right  to  interfere,  or  can  intermeddle  without 
disorganizing  the  church  of  Jesus  Christ,  paralysing  the  rights  of 
conscience,  subordinate  only  to  the  Lord  of  conscience,  and  ex- 
pelling religious  liberty  from  the  world. 

Now,  the  interference  of  civil  authority  in  the  case  before  us, 
is  especially  inexcusable,  as  the  respondents  had  performed  no 
act  in  violation  of  civil  rights,  making  them  amenable  to  a  civil 
tribunal.  Nothing  is  more  notorious  than  that  they  had  trans- 
gressed no  laws  of  the  country;  ihey  could  not,  therefore,  be  in- 
terfered with  by  the  tribunals  of  the  country.  They  must  be  left 
to  the  moral  and  spiritual  discipline  of  the  church.  But  suppose, 
in  spite  of  all  these  views,  an  appeal  is  made  to  the  civil  tribunal, 
before  which  we  now  stand?  How  is  this  Bench,  with  all  its 
profound  learning,  to  decide  or  prescribe  the  proper  course  for 
the  church,  in  the  difficult  crisis  to  which  she  is  reduced?  Only 
by  assuming  the  place  of  the  General  Assembly.  But  who  gave 
them  a  right  to  erect  themselves  into  an  ecclesiastical  tribunal? 
The  constitution  of  this  state  positively  forbids  it.  And  after  the 
civil  court  has  acted,  what  is  to  give  their  decree  a  binding  force  ? 
They  cannot  touch  the  rights  nor  the  power  of  conscience,  but 
by  rousing  its  voice  and  its  indignation  against  them,  if  they  in- 
terfere with  the  church's  sovereign  decision.  To  produce  acqui- 
escence in  their  action,  if  adverse,  their  only  resort  is  civil  power, 
fines,  and  bars  and  bolts,  all  hostile,  if  not  fatal,  to  the  rights  of 
conscience,  and  to  the  liberty  wherewith  Christ  has  made  us  free. 
And  yet  here  we  are  as  a  religious  body,  prosecuting  a  great  re- 
ligious object,  before  a  civil  court. 

With  these  sentiments  in  our  hearts,  we  responded  to  the  re- 
lators in  the  court  ofJVisi  Prn^y,  by  compulsion,  and  with  the 
same  sentiments  we  appeared  before  the  Supreine  Court,  driven 
by  necessity  to  that  last  resort,  in  civil  law,  not  oi  free  men  in 
Christ  Jesus,  but  of  common  citizens,  or  secular  men,  in  the  com- 
munity.    We  hope  the  world  around  us,  and  the  court  above  us, 


264  OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED. 

and  all  observers  of  our  course,  will  form  a  right  estimate  of  the 
Old  School  body,  in  joining  this  issue  with  our  pursuers,  to 
redress  our  multiplied  grievances,  under  this  constrained  ap- 
peal to  Csesar. 

This  case,  as  presented  to  the  Supreme  Court  of  Pennsylvania, 
was  not  only  in  itself  important,  complex  and  difficult,  but  alto- 
gether novel  in  its  character,  very  little  attention  having  been 
paid  to  questions  of  conscience,  in  the  practice  of  the  American 
courts. 

The  only  parallel  case  recited  by  Mr.  Sergeant,  in  his  argu- 
gument  before  the  Court  in  Banc,  denying  the  power  of  civil 
courts  to  interfere  with  the  spiritual  interests  of  the  church,  or 
disavowing  on  the  part  of  civil  tribunals,  their  right  of  jurisdiction 
in  ecclesiastical  and  spiritual  affairs,  was  the  record  of  a  case  in 
the  Supreme  Court  of  Delaware,  showing  the  opinion  of  that 
court  to  be,  Chief  Justice  Johns  presiding,  "  that  no  power  shall, 
or  ought  to  be,  vested  in  or  assumed  by  any  magistrate,  that  shall 
in  any  case  interfere  with,  or  in  any  manner  control  the  rights  of 
conscience,  in  the  free  exercise  of  religious  worship,"  or  by  im- 
plication, in  managing  and  conducting  their  spiritual  and  religious 
affairs,  agreeably  to  the  free  and  conscientious  dictates  of  their 
own  minds  and  hearts. 

The  entire  and  permanent  separation  of  church  and  state,  is  of 
unspeakable  importance  and  absolute  necessity,  to  the  freedom 
and  stability  of  all  our  institutions;  and  no  man  better  qualified 
than  Hon.  John  Sergeant,  to  discuss  and  establish  upon  its  right 
principles,  this  great  question  of  religious  liberty  and  the  rights  of 
conscience,  it  is  honestly  believed,  could  be  selected  from  the 
American  bar.  Here,  from  constitution,  deep  reflection,  fixed 
habit,  and  experience  as  a  pre-eminently  learned  christian  advo- 
cate, he  was  at  home.  This  great  question  of  religious  freedom 
j'or  hundreds  of  millions  of  people,  in  these  rising  states,  absorbed 
all  his  sympathies,  elicited  all  his  powers  of  thought  and  ratioci- 
nation, and  prompted  him  to  that  great  eflbrt,  which  proved  him 
to  be  the  champion  of  religious  liberty  and  the  rights  of  con- 
science. 

The  clear  conceptions,  the  powerful  reasonings  and  impressive 
conclusions,  exhibited  in  his  argument,  are  of  inestimable  value, 
for  the  influence  they  must  exert  upon  the  minds  of  all  sober 
thinking  people.  We  therefore,  with  pleasure,  present  in  these 
pages  as  much  of  Mr.  Sergeant's  masterly  argument  as  our  lim- 
its will  allow.  In  that  part  which  relates  to  the  rights  of  con- 
science and  religious  freedom,  we  use  his  language  closely.  On 
some  other  topics,  we  have  been  compelled  to  abbreviate  and 
condense  the  argument,  however,  honestly  retaining  the  true 
meaning  and  import  of  the  speaker.     Those  wishing  to  examine 


OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED.  265 

the  whole  discussion,  may  have  that  pleasure,  by  referring  to  ihe 
"  Church  Case,"  I  vol.,  8  vo„  by  the  Rev.  Samuel  Miller,  Jr. 

J\Ir.  Sergeant's  Argument. 

"  May  it  please  your  Honours,  the  counsel  for  the  relators  have 
told  us,  that  such  a  decision  (confirming  the  judgment  of  the 
court  below)  would  be  productive  of  peace:  that  it  would  bring 
together  again  those  who  are  so  widely  separated.  But,  that  has 
been  tried  ;  they  were  together,  and  after  all  that  has  been  dis- 
•-•losed,  in  the  course  of  the  trial  of  this  cause,  I  think  every  one 
ought  to  be  very  cautious  in  cherishing  a  desire  to  force  them  to- 
gether again.  If  1  understand  the  subject,  this  is  the  main  ground 
of  our  portion  of  the  objection  made  to  the  decision  of  the  court 
and  jury  ;  that  the  rights  and  the  powers  of  the  General  Assem- 
bly, the  highest  and  the  final  judicatory  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church,  as  well  as  of  all  its  subordinate  judicatories,  are  purely 
spiritual  and  moral.  It  so  happens,  that  deeming  them  to  be  mat- 
ters between  every  man  and  his  own  conscience,  in  which  no  hu- 
man tribunal  has  the  authority  to  interfere,  we  consider  an  at- 
tempt to  force  us  into  any  religious  connexion  whatever,  a  direct 
violation  of  our  most  sacred  rights.  We  suggest  now,  that  such 
an  attempt  would  be  unconstitutional  and  inconsistent  with  spirit- 
ual liberty  ;  that  it  would  strike  at  the  root  of  the  great  principle 
of  our  institutions,  namely,  that  spiritual  concerns  are  not  to  be 
interfered  with  by  the  civil  power.  These  parties  can  never 
come  together  again  by  consent,  never  in  the  world,  but  of  their 
own  free  choice.  The  idea  of  forcing  one  mass  of  people  to  sit 
at  the  same  spiritual  table  with  another,  implies,  in  the  first  place, 
the  power  of  searching  into  the  hearts  of  men,  for  without  it,  who 
can  tell  the  consequences  of  such  an  union?  I  take  it,  then,  that 
the  position  of  the  learned  counsel  is  not  correct.  I  go  for  free- 
dom, for  no  force  from  any  quarter.  We  shall  presently  see 
whether,  notwithstanding  all  that  we  have  suflfered  in  name  and 
character,  we  are  not  the  real  champions  of  spiritual  liberty.  I 
believe  we  are.  And  at  the  same  time,  it  will  appear,  whether 
the  eftbrt  of  the  minority  is  not  to  deprive  us  of  that,  liberty,  to 
force  us  into  an  association  with  those  whom  we  do  not  choose 
to  be  with ;  whether  their  prominent  object  is  not  to  compel  us  to 
abandon  all  our  rights,  or  what  is  equivalent,  to  give  up  the  great 
right  of  choosing  our  associates.  An  effort  in  itself  strongly  re- 
pulsive. 

"  This  is  the  most  dangerous  power  that  a  civil  tribunal  has 
ever  been  called  upon  to  exercise.  Your  Honours  have  enough 
to  do,  enough  of  trouble  and  perplexity,  in  determining  those 
cases  upon  which  you  must  decide.  What  you  are  here  called 
to  do,  is  to  open  for  the  subjects  of  your  inquiry  and  labour,  a 


266  OLD    SCHOOL    VI\DICATED. 

new  source  of  conflict  and  litigation,  of  unknown  extent.  None 
can  define  its  limiis,  or  control  the  spirit  of  discord,  which  it 
will  pour  forth.  We  have  warned  our  opponents — not  threat- 
ened, as  has  been  intimated — we  have  warned  thern  of  the  liti- 
gation that  would  tbllow  their  proceedings;  but  it  is  for  litiga- 
tion that  they  seem  to  have  sought.  Every  church,  Presbytery, 
and  Synod  in  the  land  must  decide  this  question  for  itself;  that 
is  as  plain  as  it  can  be.  Nay,  every  individual  in  the  land  must 
engage  in  the  contest,  and  how  will  you  limit  the  violent  spirit 
of  litigation,  if  the  law  is  once  thrown  open  to  these  parties? 
Observe  what  eflects  it  has  already  produced.  The  minority  of 
the  Assembly  of  1S3S  have  certainly  done  a  great  deal,  if  they 
liave  accomplished  what  the  charge  of  his  Honour,  Judge  Ro- 
gers, decides  that  they  have  accomplished.  If  the  matter  be  not 
too  serious  to  joke  about,  following  the  example  of  those  who 
have  preceded  me,  in  some  degree,  though,  perhaps,  speaking 
more  innocently,  I  would  say,  that  the  proceeding  by  wliich  the 
minority  in  that  Assembly  claim  to  have  manoeuvred  the  ma- 
jority out  of  doors,  was  one  of  the  greatest  practical  hoaxes 
ever  seen  or  heard  of.  I  mean  to  say,  that  no  man  can  look 
seriously  at  the  thing,  uninfluenced  by  any  respect  to  who  shall 
succeed  at  last,  but  he  must  so  regard  it.  1  do  not  speak  now 
of  the  decision  of  the  law.  So  the  facts  strike  me,  and  so  they 
must,  1  think,  strike  every  one.  I  say  that  these  gentlemen,  if 
they  succeed  here,  will  have  accomplished  a  great  deal ;  but  the 
rest  that  they  will  have  to  do,  what  remains  to  be  accomplished, 
they  will  find  more  difficult,  weightier,  more  distracting.  Let 
us  tell  them,  that  much  trouble  and  confusion  would  be  avoid- 
ed, if  the  admonition — I  will  not  quote  scripture — -the  admoni- 
tion to  let  spiritual  bodies  decide  on  spiritual  questions,  were 
duly  observed.  I  intend  to  show,  before  I  have  done  with  the 
case,  that  this  is  an  attempt  to  strip  the  General  Assembly  of 
that  power  ;  to  place  it  in  the  hands  of  the  tribunals  of  the  land  ; 
and  SO-  to  place  it,  in  a  manner,  I  will  not  say  to  the  shame  of 
religion,  but  to  the  disparagement  and  disgrace  of  its  ministers, 
SO  far  as  disparagement  and  disgace  can  be  brought  upon  those 
lioly  officers.  What  length  of  years,  what  venerable  character, 
what  stock  of  service  or  of  merit,  will  ever  serve  as  a  shield? 
The  very  first  act  of  power  performed  by  the  new  body,  which 
met  in  the  First  Presbyterian  Church,  was  to  direct  a  bolt  at 
the  head  of  the  only  remaining  trustee,  of  those  originally  in- 
corporated by  the  act  of  1799.  Their  first  act  was  an  act  of 
rough  exscision.  The  first  exercise  of  their  newly  obtained 
power,  was  aimed  at  him  who  had  held  his  office  from  1799  to 
iS9S — forty  years  lacking  one.  Your  Honours  may  see  in  this 
the  spirit  with  which  we  are  threatened ;  you  may  see  it  even 


OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED.  267 

in  the  argument  of  the  cause  in  this  court.  All  must  grant, 
that  in  my  learned  friend's  remarks  upon  Dr.  Elliott's  text,  and 
in  his  offer  to  furnish  him  with  a  more  appropriate  one,  the 
same  spirit  is  manifested,  not  originating  in  him,  but  within  the 
compass  of  the  supposed  triumphant  party,  who,  flushed  by 
their  fancied  victory,  begin  immediately  to  claim  cognizance  of 
the  conscience  and  the  heart,  and  charge  Dr.  Elliot  with  having, 
while  in  the  performance  of  a  solemn  religious  service,  in  the 
very  presence  of  his  Maker,  used  that  text  from  impure  mo- 
tives. From  the  beginning  to  the  end  of  the  trial  of  this  case. 
I  am  sorry  to  say  it,  but  say  it  because  I  felt  it,  during  the  short 
time  that  I  was  able  to  be  in  court,  I  felt,  and  I  am  sure  my 
colleagues  felt — I  hope  my  clients  did  not  feel — that  we  were 
ill  the  midst  of  a  pelting  tempest,  a  torrent  against  which  it  seemed 
almost  vain  to  make  resistance.  The  same  spirit,  may  it  please 
your  Honours,  has  been  manifested  in  the  course  of  this  discus- 
sion, and  if  at  last,  the  Assembly  of  1838  and  the  Old  School 
party,  are  condemned,  it  will  be,  not  because  of  their  acts,  but 
because  we  have  undertaken  to  know  what  is  in  their  hearts, 
and  judge  that  we  may  have  discovered  there,  sinister  motives 
and  designs.  We,  I  have  said,  are  the  true  champions  of  spi- 
ritual liberty  and  of  the  rights  of  conscience,  and  however  much 
we  may  have  suffered,  if  our  cause  is  just,  it  must  prevail ;  all 
must  come  back  to  the  plain  ground  of  the  constitution  and 
laws,  and  leave  such  disputes  as  this,  which  cannot  be  adjusted 
by  the  civil  power,  to  the  tribunals  of  the  church,  and  to  Him 
who  shall  be  the  final  judge  of  all. 

"  Now,  may  it  please  your  Honours,  the  general  question  which 
is  presented  in  this  case  is,  whether  we  are  not  entitled  to  have  a 
new  trial.  Great  interests  are  confessedly  involved  in  it.  The 
question,  as  regards  our  country,  is  one  of  vast  magnitude;  in 
some  aspects  of  it,  none  greater  can  arise;  and  certainly  there 
candbe  none  in  which  the  respective  champions  of  the  two  parlies 
are  entitled  to  greater  consideration,  as  regards  their  motives, 
characters,  and  lives.  The  respect  due  to  them,  I  mean  not  to 
violate.  I  do  not  mean  to  speak  a  single  word  of  any  member  of 
the  New  School  party,  personally  disparaging,  or  calculated  to 
wound  needlessly  his  feelings.  I  am  not  instructed  so  to  speak, 
nor  would  I,  if  I  were ;  I  will  endeavour  in  my  reply  to  the  argu- 
ments which  we  have  heard,  to  maintain  this  principle  inviolate, 
treating  with  the  utmost  respect  the  opinions  of  our  opponents,  so 
far  as  it  may  be  practicable,  and  with  respect  unlimited  the  opin- 
ion of  his  Honour,  Judge  Rogers.  Yea,  more,  I  will  in  the  be- 
ginning, say,  that  the  learned  judge  had  a  most  difficult  and 
arduous  task  to  perform.  Not  on  account  of  the  mere  novelty  of 
the  case,  though  this  made  it  essential  that  there  should  be  time 


268  OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED. 

and  opportunity  for  cool  discussion  and  careful  consideration. 
Look  at  the  great  amount  of  evidence  contained  in  this  paper 
book,  that  has  been  laid  before  your  Honours.  He  must  search 
out  and  gather  from  Jill  ihis  mass,  and  from  the  confrarient  state- 
ments of  the  bar,  the  precise  facts  of  ihe  case  to  which  the  law 
was  then  to  be  applied.  And  what  were  his  means  for  the  per- 
formance of  his  remaining  duty?  Was  he  to  turn  to  the  common 
law?  That  could  give  him  little  aid  ;  and  our  own  statute  law 
none  at  all.  This  case  introduced  an  entirely  new  system  of 
laws,  and,  though  thoroughly  instructed  in  all  the  principles  of  the 
law  of  the  land,  his  Honour  was  required  to  gather,  from  the 
scattered  fragments  suddenly  laid  before  him,  in  the  heat  and 
hurry  of  the  trial,  the  whole  law  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  a 
church  which  has  a  common  law,  and  a  stalute  law  of  its  own, 
and  a  complete  form  of  government,  not  framed,  however,  like 
ours,  in  the  exact  distribution  of  distinct  powers.  One  while  a 
witness  occupied  the  stand  and  gave  in  his  testiinony;  then  a  lit- 
tle was  read  from  one  pamphlet,  and  then  a  little  from  another ; 
then  a  rule  of  order,  and  then  an  article  from  the  constitution. 
Here  was  thrown  in  the  history  of  a  Synod,  and  there  a  map 
containing  the  names  of  certain  judicatories  without  their  boun- 
dary lines.  Amid  all  this,  his  Honour  must  suddenly  catch  up 
just  what  was  necessary  to  the  case,  undisturbed  by  the  din  and 
conflict  below,  so  that  he  might  at  last  instruct  the  jury  as  to  the 
law  that  was  to  govern  their  verdict.  I  will  not  say,  may  it 
please  your  Honours,  that  it  was  impossible  for  him  to  compre- 
hend the  matter  to  his  own  satisfaction,  in  the  course  of  a  single 
trial;  I  will  not  undertake  to  measure  the  utmost  reach  of  human 
intellect;  but  I  will  undertake  to  say,  that  I  trust  and  believe  that 
there  is  no  judge  on  this  bench,  who  would  not  desire  the  ground 
thus  gone  over,  to  be  reviewed ;  and  that  if  he  has  fallen  into  any 
error,  it  might  be  corrected.  I  do  not  doubt  it;  and,  therefore,  I 
now  address  his  Honour  as  freely  as  I  do  any  of  his  associates, 
under  the  perfect  conviction  that  if  he  should  see  any  error,  he 
will  not  be  the  last  to  correct  it.  Now,  we  desire  the  opportunity 
of  another  tri.il,  and  the  grounds  of  our  application  have  been  al- 
ready, in  some  degree,  disclosed.  We  undertake  to  show  from 
the  history  of  the  cause,  that  several  parts  of  our  defence  were 
not  allowed  to  have  that  weight  which  should  have  been  allowed 
them.  I  go  farther,  and  say,  that  when  the  case  went  to  the 
jury,  and  even  before  it  went  to  them,  there  was  a  manifest  preju- 
dice in  their  minds  against  us ;  from  what  source  arising,  it  is  not 
necessary  for  me  to  say.  If  the  fact,  that  the  verdict  was  ren- 
dered by  a  jury  so  influenced  and  so  prejudiced,  be  substantiated, 
that,  of  itself,  will  be  a  sufficient  ground  for  demanding  a  new 
trial.     I  say,  also,  that  the  whole  investigation,  so  far  as  it  has 


OLD    SCHOOL    VIiVDICATED.  269 

been  conducted,  and  the  decision,  to  the  extent  to  which  ii  has 
gone,  is  a  manifest  violation  of  our  constitution,  I  mean  the  coii- 
stitulion  of  the  church,  of  spiritual  hberty,  and  of  ihe  rights  ol 
conscience.  I  have  already  adverted  to  ihis  point;  for  an  illus- 
iration  of  which  I  must  thank  Mr,  Randall.  He  has  told  us,  that 
the  effect  of  your  Honour's  adding  your  sanction  to  the  verdict  of 
the  jury,  would  be  to  force  together  the  two  parties  in  this  con- 
troversy. Now,  if  I  may  be  allowed  a  few  words  more,  in  reply 
to  this,  I  will  endeavour  to  suggest  some  views  of  the  subject, 
ji rising  out  of  it,  tending  to  show  tiie  propriety^  in  fact  the  neces- 
sity, of  a  strict  adherence  lo  the  constitutional  principle  to  which 
1  have  referred. 

"  In  the  first  place,  and  this  must  already  have  suggested  itself 
to  your  Honour's  mind,  there  are  great  difficulties  and  embarrass- 
ments in  the  way  of  inquiries  like  that  in  which  we  are  now  en- 
gaged, as  the  present  case  must  bear  witness.  Is  it  fit  that  this 
court  should  entertain  an  appeal  from  the  General  Assembly  ? 
I  do  not  mean  now  to  inquire,  whether  it  is  fit  that  such  an  appel- 
late jurisdiction,  when  it  belongs  to  a  civil  court,  should  be  exer- 
cised. If  your  jurisdiction  be  established,  you  must  take  cogni- 
zance of  the  appeal.  I  speak  of  the  difficulty,  nay,  of  the  irnpos- 
sibility  of  arriving  at  a  right  conclusion  in  such  a  case.  Need  I 
point  out  the  grounds  of  difficulty  ?  I  will  call  your  attention  for 
a  moment  to  the  resolutions  of  the  Assembly  of  1837,  which  have 
given  rise  to  this  proceeding;  to  either  one,  that  repealing  the 
Plan  of  Union,  or  that  exscinding  the  four  Synods,  or  to  both. 
Why,  if  an  appeal  be  taken  in  regard  to  those  acts,  to  this  tribu- 
nal, your  Honours  must  put  yourselves  in  the  place  of  the  Gene- 
ral Assembly  itself,  and  decide  what  you  would  have  done  in  a 
similar  case,  whether,  under  the  same  circumstances,  you  would 
have  pursued  the  same  course.  In  this  investigation,  the  very  first 
blow  has  been  aimed  at  the  intentions  and  motives  which  go- 
verned those  whose  acts  are  called  in  question.  They  are  charged 
with  pride,  a  lust  for  power,  a  desire  to  appropriate  to  themselves 
the  funds  of  the  church  ;  every  thing  opprobrious  and  vile  has 
been  heaped  upon  them,  and,  if  finally,  our  opponents  effect  their 
purpose,  it  can  be  only  because  those  acts  are  to  be  considered 
as  done  not  honestly,  but  with  some  sinister  design.  How  can 
your  Honours  undertake  to  decide  this  point? 

'•  Again,  passing  by  the  gross  injustice  which  was  done  us  in 
the  out-set,  I  coine  to  another  point ;  and  here,  1  mean  to  be  ex- 
plicit. His  Honour,  Judge  Rogers,  no  doubt  in  the  press  and 
hurry  of  the  proceeding,  after  distinctly  admitting  that  the  act 
ijbrogativg  the  Plan  of  Union  was  one  which  the  Assembly  had 
n  right  to  perform,  goes  on  to  characterize  that  act  as  unjust. 
No  doubt,  in  the  discussion  of  the  case  at  the  bar,  one  side  had 


270  OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED. 

jnainlained  that  it  was  an  unjust  act,  and  the  other  that  it  was 
just.  Tfiis,  probably,  led  his  Honour  to  inquire,  not  only  whether 
the  act  was  lawful,  but  also  as  to  the  other  point  debated.  Now, 
I  mean  to  contend,  and,  therefore,  have  brought  this  view  before 
you,  that  where  an  act  is  not  unlawful,  a  court  has  no  right  to 
inquire  into  the  motives  which  influenced  that  act.  And  lor  this 
reason;  tliat  lo  decide  as  to  a  man's  motives,  you  must  place 
yourself  exactly  in  his  position,  and  take  the  same  views  of  every 
thing  that  he  does.  Else  you  cannot  judge  properly.  If  the 
General  Assembly  has  a  right  to  do  any  act,  it  is  accountable  to 
no  human  tribunal  for  the  manner  in  which  it  may  choose  to  ex- 
ercise this  riglit.  It  is  a  fundamental  doctrine,  that  so  long  as 
<Hny  one  keeps  within  the  precincts  of  his  legitimate  powers,  he 
r-annot,  in  law,  Le  affected,  by  his  thoughts,  words,  or  deed?. 
Your  Honours  have  seen,  that  in  another  part  of  the  charge  t-) 
the  jury,  that  relating  to  the  oiganization  of  the  Assenil)ly  of 
1S38,  the  learned  judge  has  in  a  like  manner,  treated  Dr.  Elliott, 
the  clerks,  and  a  portion  of  the  Old  School  party;  inquiring  into 
their  motives,  characterizing  acts  otherwise  right,  from  the  mo- 
tives with  which  they  were  performed,  as  a  conspiracy.  I  do 
not  know  whether  a  conspiracy  had  been  charged  upon  us,  even 
in  the  discussion  at  the  bar.  '  Certainly  such  a  charge  could  not 
be  applicable,  it  being  once  decided  that  our  acts  were  lawful — 
such  as  we  had  a  right  to  perform. 

"There  is  great  cause  here,  for  the  court  to  ponder  deeply  and 
examine  well  the  ground  on  which  t'ley  stand  ;  and  another  reas<  n 
may  be  added  to  those  already  mentioned.  Before  your  Honours 
arrive  at  the  end  of  this  case,  I  am  persuaded  you  will  find  that 
;if  these  parties  are  left  to  themselves,  the  public  at  large,  and  the 
friends  of  religion,  will  not  have  more  cause  to  deplore  the  resul*, 
ihan  lias  been  furnished  in  the  present  investigation.  They  were 
in  their  own  proper  arena,  two  parties  contending  for  what  they 
considered  their  respective  rights  ;  one  remained  upon  the  ground 
while  the  other  betook  themselves  to  another  place.  The  latter 
have  appealed  to  a  court  of  law,  and,  drawing  their  adversaries 
out  of  their  ordinary  and  appropriate  place,  have  compelled  them 
to  join  in  conflict  and  strife  of  a  mere  temporal  tribunal,  where 
are  commonly  dealt  with  matters  that  engage  the  feelings  and 
arouse  the  passions,  there  is  no  telling  how  far  the  inflammation 
may  extend.  Whatever  may  be  the  result,  or  the  influence  of 
this  proceeding,  if  hereafter  it  be  found  that  it  has  brought  scan- 
dal on  religion,  if,  indeed,  that  be  in  the  power  of  man,  which  I 
<io  not  believe,  or  disparagement  upon  its  professors  and  ministers, 
this  cannot  be  imputed  to  us.  Those  who  brought  the  case  here, 
are  alone  responsible  for  the  issue.  And  if  they  have  raised  the 
shout  of  victory  once,  they  may  possibly  yet  see  the  time,  as  they 


OLD    SCHOOL    VIXDICATED.  271' 

advance  in  life,  as  the  shadows  of  their  closing  day  lengthen,  and 
the  distance  before  them  becomes  contracted,  when  they  may 
have  occasion  to  mourn  the  events  that  have  separated  them  en- 
tirely from  these  good  men.  In  the  course  of  the  events  of  this 
world,  those  who  are  allowed  to  live  to  old  age,  must  find  many 
coming  after  them  younger  than  themselves,  of  an  active,  bustling, 
and  aspiring  spirit,  seeing  places  above  them  which  are  objects  of 
their  ambition;  who,  if  they  can  discover  a  good  precedent  to 
sustain  them  in  cutting  off  their  elders,  will  not  fail  to  follow  the 
example.  Nor  is  that  all.  This  spirit  once  abroad  in  the  church, 
who  will  allay  its  violence  ?  I  do  not  fear  that  any  man  will  ac- 
complish the  destruction  of  the  church :  it  is,  as  I  believe,  founded 
upon  a  rock.  But  who  can  exorcise  that  spirit  when  it  is  once 
raised?  Nobody.  If  it  begin  its  domination  in  injustice,  in  the 
prostration  of  one  of  those  venerable  props  which  support  the 
church,  a  pillar  on  which  it  rests,  and  which  has  stood  for  half  a 
century,  no  part  of  the  building  can  ever  be  secure. 

"  These  are  times  of  restless  inquiry,  of  storm  and  struggle,  and 
your  Honours  will  see  the  spirit  of  the  times  clearly  exemplified 
ira  every  part  of  this  controversy.  What  is  likely  to  be  the  efiect 
of  its  supremacy  1  Mark  it,  and  mark  it  in  connexion  with  the 
phrases  which  have  fallen  from  the  honourable  gentleman  on  the 
other  side.  The  only  remaining  trustee  of  those  appointed  in 
1799,  he  who  had  been  respected  amid  all  the  changes  of  party, 
was  the  first  object  of  attack.  The  body  that  assembled  in  the 
First  Presbyterian  Church,  has  set  us  an  excellent  example, 
says  Mr.  Randall;  they  have  appointed  no  minister  of  the  gos- 
pel a  trustee.  Here  is  exactly  the  thing  of  which  I  am  speak- 
ing; that  wisdom,  that  young  btit  confident  wisdom,  which 
would  exalt  itself  above  all  the  experience  of  the  past,  above 
all  other  wisdom.  These  gentlemen  have  not  only  no  respect 
for  their  predecesf^ors — they  may  treat  them  as  they  please — 
but  they  have  no  respect  for  the  law.  That  act  of  the  legisla- 
ture, by  which  these  trustees  were  incorporated,  gives  one-third 
of  the  number  ministers,  and  this  arrangement  has  been  made 
the  pattern  in  all  subsequent  times,  until  the  new  light  has 
burst  upon  us,  showing  all  past  wisdom  to  be  folly.  It  seems 
that  there  is  a  concentration  of  light,  in  this  newly  formed  bod}", 
that  the  legislature  were  entirely  wrong,  and  that  they  are  to 
set  every  thing  to  rights ;  that  is,  in  the  first  place,  they  are  to 
set  the  minority  above  the  majority,  and  then  to  exclude  all 
ministers  from  the  Board  of  Trustees.  I  do  not,  however,  com- 
plain of  this  at  all.  It  is  our  business  now,  merely  to  show  why 
the  verdict  of  the  jury  ought  not  to  stand.  My  colleague  has 
most  faithfully  discharged  his  duty  I  could  not  have  wished 
for  the  church,  when  these  most  important  interests  were  at 


272  OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED. 

slake,  a  friend  of  greater  learning  and  ability.  Indeed,  he  has 
gone  into  the  details  of  tlie  case  so  fully  and  minutely,  that 
all  I  am  astonished  at  is,  that  it  has  not  been  almost  painful  to 
the  court  to  be  obliged  to  listen  to  tliem,  instructive,  and  even 
essential  as  they  are."' 

For  the  above  extract,  see  Miller's  Church  Case.  One  vol- 
ume, 8  vo.,  pages  509  to  514.  For  the  extract  following,  see 
page  520. 

"For  the  present,  let  us  confine  our  attention  to  the  Acts  of 
Assembly,  1S37,  to  see  whether  they  were  really  unconstitu- 
tional and  unjust. 

"The  measures  of  that  body  which  are  here  called  in  ques- 
tion, are,  fust,  the  Abrogation  of  the  Plav  of  Union  of  1801, 
and  secondly,  what  are  called  the  exscinding  resolutions,  which 
are  consequent  upon  the  former,  flowing  directly  from  it,  de- 
riving from  it  their  validity,  and  following  it  of  necessity,  iti 
whatever  capacity  you  choose  to  place  it,  whether  they  are 
considered  as  judicial  or  as  legislative  acts,  at  least  so  following 
it,  in  the  judgment  of  those  who  passed  them.  That  the  osten- 
sible grounds  of  those  acts  were  the  true  grounds  on  which  ihey 
were  passed,  I  have  meant  to  assume;  and  it  is  important  to 
understand  at  the  outset,  whether  we  are  to  believe  that  these 
men  sit)cerely,  honestly,  and  bona  fide,  meant  what  they  de- 
clared, that  tiieir  measures  were  really  and  truly  intended  for 
the  good  of  the  church.  I  protest  solemnly  against  the  right  of 
any  body  to  question  their  motives.  You  caimot,  under  the 
constitution,  deny  my  position,  that  these  are  to  be  respected. 
Presently,  I  will  read  a  part  of  the  constitution  of  Pennsylvania, 
bearing  directly,  as  I  thinlf,  upon  this  point,  and  which  it  is  of 
infinite  importance  that  we  should  understand.  This  case,  I 
believe,  was  lost  before  the  jury,  and  if  we  lose  it  here,  will  be 
lost  finally,  in  a  great  measure,  because,  in  sincerity,  a  want  of 
truth,  the  declaration  of  motives,  not  real,  has  been  imputed  to 
my  clients.  On  the  trial,  and  the  same  thing  is  very  manifest 
in  the  argument  on  this  motion,  the  widest  license  was  taken  in 
commenting  upon  the  character  of  the  Assembly,  and  contra- 
dicting the  assumption  which  I  now  make.  I  submit  it,  there- 
fore, as  a  clear  position,  that  at  every  tribunal  of  the  common- 
wealth of  Pennsylvania,  a  church,  with  each  parly  in  that 
church,  is  entitled  to  the  clear  concession,  that  whatever  it  does 
within  the  spirit  of  its  discipline,  is  done  from  the  mutives  which 
are  professed.  If  you  do  not  believe  this,  you  cannot  believe 
it  to  be  a  church,  only  a  set  of  hypocrites,  sinners  of  the  worst 
kind.  When,  therefore,  our  opponents  quote  scripture  for  pur- 
poses to  which  we  think  it  ought  not  to  be  applied,  we  chal- 
lenge them  to  show  their  authority  for  casting  the  first  stone  at 


OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED.  273 

•fiwr  motives;  we  do  not  consent  to  be  put  on  proof  of  these,  ex- 
cepting by  those  to  whom  we  are  acconntable  for  them;  and  we 
are  thus  accountable,  only  to  the  church,  to  ourselves.  The  world 
vloes  not,  and  cannot,  govern  us  in  matters  of  faith  and  conscience. 
It  IS,  then,  of  great  consequence,  that  you  consider  these  acts  to 
have  been  performed  honestly,sincerely,  and  conscientiously,  for 
5 he  good  of  the  church,  as  my  clients  believed.  We  do  not  claim 
ij3 fallibility  for  them,  more  than  for  any  other  men.  Presently,  I 
sh.all  point  your  Honours  to  the  strongest  evidence  of  the  fact,  that 
the  true  reasons  for  their  acts  were  those  oji  their  face  exhibited, 
liut  we  are,  at  all  events,  entitled  to  assume  it. 

"  In  entering  upon  the  discussion  of  the  acts  of  1837,  I  have 
first  to  propound  to  this  court  a  great  question,  which  must  be 
decided  in  the  outset.  To  whom  does  it  belong  to  determine 
whether  the  proceedings  of  my  clients  were,  or  were  not,  tor 
tiie  good  of  the  church  ?  I  do  not  now  speak  of  motives.  That 
tiiey  were  right,  I  have  assumed  ;  and  that  this  should  be  be- 
lieved is  secured  to  us  by  the  fundamental  principles  of  our 
government.  None  can  call  our  motives  in  question,  so  long 
as  we  are  careful  in  our  observance  of  respect  for  the  laws. 
Assuming  this  as  undeniable,  I  respectfully  demand,  who  is  to 
decide  whether  the  acts  of  1837  were,  or  were  not,  for  the  good 
of  the  church  ?  Or  supposing  a  certain  end  confessedly  desira- 
ble, who  is  to  decide  how  that  end  is  to  be  reached  }  It  has 
been  argued,  that  in  order  to  attain  a  certain  object,  we  were 
bound  to  follow  the  course  of  a  regular  trial;  to  commence  pro- 
ceedings in  an  inferior  judicatory,  unU  ss  where  the  superior 
had  original  jurisdiction,  and  conduct  them  in  regular  judicial 
form.  I  do  not  know  how  this  law  is  to  be  established.  In 
tlie  first  place,  we  have  the  question,  who  is  to  decide  whether 
tlie  proposed  erid  is  for  the  good  of  the  church  or  not ;  and 
then,  who  is  to  decide  how  that  end  can  best  be  attained?  Can 
the  civil  tribunal  prescribe  the  course  to  be  pursued  by  the 
church?  No.  Suppose  we  say, '  We  do  not  make  any  charge 
against  our  brethren,  with  whom,  in  time  past,  we  have  lived 
in  unity;  we  do  not  mean  to  dismiss  them  with  the  mark  of 
heresy,  or  other  criminality  upon  them.  All  that  we  allege  is, 
tiiat  they  do  not  live  according  to  the  discipline  of  our  church  ; 
that  disorders  may  thence  arise— that,  in  our  opinion,  they  have 
aiready  arisen.'  And  supppose,  too,  that  the  act  is  performed 
by  a  competent  tribunal,  and  involves  nought  but  a  separation 
of  the  parties.  The  question  is,  not  whether  our  purpose  is  the 
!>est  and  wisest,  but  who  is  to  judge  whether  it  is,  or  is  not  so  ? 
ii\e  church,  or  a  civil  tribunal  ?  If  the  latter  can  interfere  at  all 
in  such  matters,  you  had  better  dissolve  the  whole  system  of 
cfiurch  government  from  top  to  bottom.     If  we  cannot  follow 

8 


274  OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED. 

our  own  judgment  throughout,  we  had  better  not  form  any 
judgment.  Suppose  farther,  that  we  consider  not  only  the  emh 
but  also  the  means  proposed,  to  be  essential ;  both  method  and 
endy  we  maintaii),  are  for  the  consideration  of  the  Assembly 
alone.  Whatever  method  they  adopt,  is  sure  to  be  protested 
against  by  some  person  or  other.  But  suppose  they  select  a 
certain  method,  and  are  conscientious  in  their  choice,  is  the 
judgment  of  any  body  to  interfere  ?  That  selection  is  as  much 
a  matter  of  conscience,  as  the  final  decision  itself.  The  rights 
of  conscience  are  as  clearly  invaded  by  interfering  with  the 
one,  as  the  other.  I  am  speaking  of  the  proceedings  of  the 
Assembly  of  1S37.  The  consideration  of  them  involves  the 
pure  question,  were  they  good  or  bad — constitutional  or  uncon- 
stitutional ?  This  single  question  is  now  proposed  ;  I  go  no  far- 
ther at  present.  I  maintain  that  no  temporal  tribunal  can  have 
cognizance  of  such  an  issue.  I  do  not  niean  the  question,  which 
are  the  legal  trustees,  but  the  single  one  in  regard  to  the  acts 
of  1837,  and  I  say,  that  of  it  no  civil  court  has  cognizance — 
that  it  belongs  exclusively  to  the  jurisdiction  of  the  church. 

"  I  know  that  in  this  part  of  the  argument,  I  must  encounter 
the  denunciations  of  the  opposite  side.  Why  did  you  not  insti- 
tute regular  process?  Why  did  you  not  give  us  a  trial,  and  a 
hearing?  Why  did  you  not  do  this,  that,  or  the  other  thing? 
Of  course,  we  expected  them  to  make  objection  and  find  fault  ; 
we  took  it  for  granted,  they  would  think  that  anything  else 
would  have  been  niore  acceptable  than  just  what  we  did.  We 
disregard  this  clamor.  But,  as  I  am  well  aware,  we  here  meet 
a  much  more  formidable  obstacle,  the  opinion  of  Judge  Rogers, 
made  up  at  the  trial  and  propounded  in  his  charge ;  which,  of 
course,  should  be  very  seriously  weighed  ;  we  should  proceed 
with  extreme  caution,  step  by  step,  before  arriving  at  a  con- 
clusion contrary  to  his.  And  I  do  not  know  that  I  have  ever  be- 
stowed, upon  any  single  subject,  more  thought  than  I  have 
upon  this,  to  view  it  in  every  aspect,  to  understand  its  bearing 
in  every  particular,  that  I  might  not  be  led  into  a  false  track, 
to  avoid  error  in  judgment,  and  the  more  especially  because 
my  opinion  was  contrary  tO' that  expressed  in  the  charge.  I 
will  state  the  grounds  of  my  conclusion,  acknowledging,  at  the 
same  time,  that  I  am  liable  to  error;  possibly  I  am  in  error 
here.  I  think  1  am  not.  I  am  happy  that  Judge  Rogers  agrees 
with  us  in  one  important  point.     He  says — 

"'1  have  been  requested  by  the  respondeiits'  counsel,  to  in- 
struct you,  that  the  introduction  of  lay  delegates  from  Congre- 
gational establishments  into  the  judicatories  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church,  was  a  violation  of  the  fundamental  principles  of  Pres- 
byterianism,  and  in  contravention  of  the  act  of  the  legislature 


OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED.  275 

of  Pennsylvania,  incorporating  the  trustees  of  the  church  ;  that 
any  act  permitting  sucli  introduction,  would  therefore  have  been 
void,  although  submitted  to  the  Presbyteries.  As  an  abstract 
question  on  this  point,  I  give  an  affirmative  answer,  ahhough, 
gentlemen,  I  am  unable  to  see  the  bearing  it  has  on  the  matter 
at  issue  in  this  cause.'     (See  Rogers'  charge.) 

•'  In  another  part  of  the  charge,  which  I  have  not  time  to 
read,  his  Honour  gives  the  opinion,  that  the  act  repealing  the 
Plan  of  Union  of  1801,  was  not  liable  to  any  legal  objection, 
was  entirely  valid.  His  opinion,  therefore,  is  in  favour  of  the 
abrogation.  Of  this  I  am  very  glad,  because  the  subject  has 
been  earnestly  discussed,  and  the  opposite  counsel  have  pro- 
nounced the  abrogation  unconstitutional  and  void,  and  here  is 
the  key  of  the  whole  matter.  From  the  assumption,  that  it  was 
unconstitutional  and  void,  the  proceedings  of  the  New  School, 
in  1838,  derive  all  their  virtue.  Now,  let  us  endeavour,  sober- 
ly, seriously,  and  quietly,  to  look  at  this  matter.  First,  let  us 
look  at  the  nature  of  the  thing  done  ;  that  is  to  say,  let  us  in- 
quire whether  it  was  a  purely  spiritual  and  moral  act,  or 
whether  it  had  any  touch  or  admixture  of  a  civil  nature.  To 
determine  this,  I  refer  to  the  resolutions  themselves,  (vide  ante, 
page  37.)  I  need  call  your  strict  attention  to  the  third  only,  but 
the  whole  should  be  taken  in  connexion,  and  should  be  "taken 
— I  cannot  too  often  repeat  this— every  word  spolcen  should  be 
taken  as  coming  directly  from  the  heart.  You  must  consider 
these  gentlemen  to  have  meant  what  they  have  here  said;  if 
you  do  not,  we  cannot  proceed  at  all. 

"'  In  regard  to  the  relation  exisiing  between  the  Presbyterian 
and  Congregational  Churches,  the  committee  recommend  the 
adoption  of  the  following  resolutions  :' 

"That  is,  in  regard  to  the  voluntary  association  hitherto  ex- 
isting; for  I  maintain,  that  whatever  constitutes  a  voluntary 
association,  this  was  one  ;  and  as  such,  it  was  treated  through- 
out these  acts.     In  fact,  every  religious  association  is  voluntary. 

i'  '1.  That  between  these  tv/o  branches  of  the  American 
Church,  there  ought,  in  the  judgment  of  this  Assembly,  to  be 
maintained  sentiments  of  mutual  respect  and  esteem,  and  for 
that  purpose,  no  reasonable  effort  should  be  omitted  to  preserve 
a  perfectly  good  understanding  between  these  branches  of  the 
Church  of  Christ.' 

•  •'  Here  is  exactly  the  spirit  which  I  have  before  described; 
we  wish  to  abrogate  the  Plan  of  Union,  but  we  are  not  going 
to  denounce  you  as  wanting  in  either  doctrine  and  faith — or 
Ibrm  of  government  and  discipline — to  assert  that  you  are  not 
a  church.  By  no  means.  We  desire  to  live  in  peace  with  you, 
and  not  to  quarrel.     If  you  choose  to  maintain  your  own  form 


27Q  OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED. 

of  worship,  as  before,  we  shall  not,  on  that  account,  respect 
you  the  less.  All  that  we  say  is,  that  Congregationalism  and 
Presbyterianisni  are  immiscible;  when  associated,  one  destroys 
tlie  discipline  of  the  other ;  the  union  produces  disorder  and 
confusion.  You  see  a  specimen  of  this  in  Mr.  Bissil's  case, 
(vide  ante,  p.  77,)  by  which  the  Assembly  was  distracted  to  the 
length  of  a  protest.  He  was  neither  an  elder  or  connnittee-man, 
and  yet  claimed  a  seat  in  the  Assembly,  and  was  admitted. 
This  was  only  one  occurrence,  to  be  sure,  yet  it  was  in  itself 
sufficient  to  condemn  the  Plan  of  Union.  That  is  no  longer  an 
assembly  of  Presbyterians  or  Congregationalists,  an  assembly 
in  which  one  man,  coming  through  the  channel  of  no  church, 
claims  a  seat  and  all  feel  bound  to  admit  him. 

"'  2.  That  it  is  expedient  to  continue  the  plan  of  friendly  ift- 
tercourse  between  this  church  and  the  Congregational  Churches 
of  New  England,  as  it  now  exists. 

'"  3.  But  as  the  Plan  of  Union  adopted  for  the  New  Settle- 
ments in  ISOl,  was  originally  an  unconstitutional  act  on  the 
part  of  that  Assembly,  these  important  standing  rules  having 
never  been  submitted  to  the  Presbyteries,  and  as  they  were  to- 
tally destitute  of  authority,  as  proceeding  from  the  General  As- 
sociation of  Connecticut,  which  is  invested  with  no  power  to 
legislate  in  such  cases,  and  especially,  to  enact  laws  to  regulate 
churches  not  within  her  limits;  and  as  much  confusion  and  ir- 
regularity have  arisen  from  this  unnatural  and  unconstitutional 
system  of  union,  therefore  it  is  resolved,  that  the  act  of  Assem- 
bly of  1801,  entitled  a  Plan  of  Union,  be,  and  the  same  is  hereby 
abrogated.' 

"That  plan  was  entirely  voluntary  from  beginning  to  end. 
Now,  in  the  judgment  of  the  Assembly,  sufficient  grounds  for 
the  abrogation  existed,  and  none  can  say-that  they  did  not  exist. 
It  is  asserted  that  the  plan  was  originally  unconstitutional — 
ihey  don't  say,  however,  that  it  was  a  constitutional  regulation, 
nor  what  character  precisely  it  bore  ;  but  speak  only  of  certain 
"  important  standing  rules,'  whether  constitutional  rules  or  not 
is  left  undecided.  It  was  a  system  of  rules,  and,  as  such,  not 
binding,  unless  sent^down  to  the  Presbyteries,  and  by  them  ap- 
proved. Admit  that  it  was  unconstitutional,  and  no  doubt  the 
Assembly  had  a  right  to  abrogate  it,  and  besides  being  lawful, 
the  abrogation  was  certainly  expedient,  if  the  plan  had  intro- 
duced disorders,  and  threatened  others  still  more  serious.  My 
clients  say  that  it  had.  This  being  alleged  by  the  Assembly,  it 
was  clearly  an  adequate  ground  for  their  proceeding.  What 
objections  are  urged  against  the  abrogation  of  the  Plan  of 
Union?  On  the  supposition  that  the  Plan  was  constitutional,  it 
is  contended,  that  it  was  a  compact ;  as  if,  in  agreements  purely 


,  OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED.  277 

spiritual,  there  can  be  any  consideration,  by  reason  of  which 
the  compact  can  be  enforced,  though  a  parly  is  desirous  of  re- 
scinding it,  because  it  is  productive  of  mischief.  When  a  com- 
pact or  bargain  is  made  between  man  and  man,  it  is  perfectly 
well  understood  that  this  is  cognizable  by  the  law  5  our  consti- 
tution recognizes  such  contracts,  and  you  have  a  doctrine  of 
consideration  applicable  to  them.  You  may  have  a  contract, 
cognizable  by  the  civil  law,  in  which  legal  obhgation  mingles 
with  that  which  is  purely  moral ;  but  here  you  have  no  mix- 
ture, nothing  whatever  that  is  worldly;  if  binding  at  all,  this 
agreement  is  binding  only  in  conscience.  Where  you  have 
nothing  like  a  consideration,  you  can  have  no  contract  that  can 
be  enforced  at  law.     You  cannot  keep  joined  by  the  sanction 

•of  law,  elements  which  have  come  together  on  the  principle  of 
voluntary  association.  How,  then,  is  such  an  agreement  to  be 
determined  ?  Evidently  by  the  will  of  the  majority.  The  ma- 
jority on  either  side  may  resolve  that  its  operation  shall  cease. 
The  resolution  that  I  have  read,  then,  abrogated  the  Plan  of 
ISOl  ;  and  it  is  abrogated — it  ceases  to  have  any  force. 

"  Next  conies  a  scries  of  resolutions,  resting  on  the  supposi- 
tion that  the  Plan  of  Union  was  unconstitutional  and  void, 
which  are  merely  administrative.  I  do  not  mean  to  say  whether 
ihey  are  legislative  or  judicial,  because  we  do  not  find  the  go- 
vernment of  the  Presbyterian  Church  divided,  like  our  national 
government,  into  three  distinct  and  well  defined  branches,  but 
I  call  them  simply  administrative,  as  they  were  passed  to  carry 
into  effect  that  which  was  already  adopted.  I  might  have  re-' 
ferred  to  the  protest  against  the  other,  but  leave  that  for  the 
present.     Here  is  the  first  of  the  resolutions  : 

"'That,  in  consequence  of  the  abrogation,  by  this  Assembly, 

.  of  the  "Plan  of  Union,"  of  ISOl,  between  it  and  the  General 
Association  of  Connecticut,  aS  utterly  unconstitutional,  and 
therefore  null  and  void  from  the  beginning,  the  Synods  of- 
Utica,  Geneva,  and  Genesee,  which  were  formed  and  attached 
to  this  body,  under  and  in  execution  of  said  Plan  of  Union,  be, 
and  are  hereby  declared  to  be,  out  o(  the  ecclesiastical  coimex- 
ion  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  of  the  United  States  of  Ame- 
rica, and  that  they  are  not,  in  form  or  in  fact,  an  integral  por- 
tion of  said  church.'  ante  46. 

"  On  which  resolution,  the  ayes  and  noes  being  called,  it  was 
carried  by  a  majority  of  twenty-seven,  one  not  voting.  This 
i;hen,  so  far  as  I  have  gone,  declares  simply  the  practical  effect 
of  the  abrogation.  If  such  was  its  practical  effect,  all  that  the 
General  Assembly  did,  in  passing  this  resolution,  was  purely 
administrative.  They  made  known  to  their  own  churches,  and 
gave  notice  to  those  associated  with  them,  what  the  effect  oi 


278  OLD    SCHOOL    VIXDICATED.  , 

the  abrogation  was,  and  then  adjudicated  accordingly.     What 
is  the  next  resohition  ? 

"  Particular  attention  is  requested  to  the  following — the  se- 
cond resolution  : 

'"That  the  solicitude  of  this  Assembly  an  the  whole  subject 
and  its  urgency  for  the  immediate  decision  of  it,  are  greatly  in- 
creased by  reason  of  the  great  disorders  which  are  ascertained 
to  have  prevailed  in  those  Synods,  (as  well  as  tjiat  of  the  West- 
ern Reserve,  against  which  a  declarative  resolution,  similar  to 
the  first  of  these,  has  been  passed  during  our  present  session,) 
it  being  made  clear  to  us  that  even  the  Plan  of  Union  itself,  was 
never  consistently  carried  into  effect  by  those  professing  to  act 
under  it.'     (p.  526,  Argument.) 

"Consider  next,  the  nature  of  the  body  by  which  the  act  was* 
done.  This  is  the  definition  of  a  church  :  first,  it  is  a  voluntary 
association  ;  secondlv,  established  for  divine  worship  and  godty 
Hving,  agreeably  to  the  Holy  Scriptures;  'and,  thirdly,  submU- 
ting  to  a  certain  form  of  government.'  AU  these  are  material 
to  its  existence,  and  they  are  things  which,  as  I  understand  the 
Constitution  of  Pennsylvania,  are  by  it  left,  entirely  left,  to  the 
church  itself,  and  to  every  man's  conscience.  What  says  the 
constitution  ?  This  part  of  it  has  undergone  no  cliange  in  the 
recent  revision  ;  I  wish  I  could  say  as  much  of  the  whole.  The 
third  section  of  the  declaration  of  rights,  guarantees  certain  re- 
hgious  rights,  reserved  out  of  those  delegated  to  the  government, 
not  granted  to  the  legislature,  the  judiciary,  or  the  executive. 
" '  All  men  have  a  natural  and  indefeasible  right  to  worship 
Almighty  God  according  to  the  dictates  of  their  own  con- 
sciences ;  no  man  can  of  right  be  compelled  to  attend,  erect,  or 
support  any  place  of  worship,  or  to  maintain  any  ministry, 
against  his  consent ;  no  human  authority  can,  in  any  case  what- 
ever, control  or  interfere  with  the  rights  of  conscience  ;  and  no 
preference  shall  ever  be  given  by  law  to  any  religious  establish'*- 
ments  or  modes  of  worship.' 

"  This  provision  is  carefully,  studiously,  and  redundantly 
written,  with  a  view  to  fence  round  conscience,  to  fence  round 
the  church,  so  that  the  civil  authorities  may  not  even  look  into 
them,  unless  to  see  that  the  peace  of  society  is  preserved;  for 
all  denominations  are  bound  to  obey  the  laws  of  the  land,  ac- 
cording to  the  precept  of  Christ,  who  inculcated  every  civil 
duty,  the  payment  of  every  lawful  tribute,  but  the  conscience 
we  hold  sacred.  What  right  has  the  civil  power  to  interfere 
with  conscience  ?  If  certain  forms  of  government  and  discipline 
are  part  of  the  belief  of  a  church,  conscience  has  as  much  to  do 
in  the  maintenance  of  these,  as  in  the  preservation  of  sound 
doctrine,  and  it  is  mj''  right  of  conscience  to  choose  such  form 


OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED.  279 

i)f  religion  as  I  tiiink  best.  If  I  do  not  like  the  denomination  with 
which  I  am  connected,  at  any  moment  I  may  depart;  if  the  ma- 
jority of  the  sect  do  not  like  me,  they  may  turn  me  out.  I  don't 
know  of  any  other  rule.  I  might  be  turned  out  of  the  Presbyte- 
rian Church  because  1  did  not  submit  to  its  government  and  dis- 
cipline, but  the  wide  world  would  be  before  me,  and  I  at  liberty 
to  choose  my  associates.  If  I  desired  to  join  the  Congregation- 
alists,  I  might  do  if.  If  I  chose  to  attend  as  a  hearer  in  a  Pres- 
byterian place  of  worship,  I  should  not  be  excluded.  It  might  be 
supposed,  from  the  argument  addressed  to  the  court,  that  these 
men  were  turned  out  to  starve — to  starve  for  lack  of  spiritual 
food. 

"  When  a  question  arises,  in  regard  to  any  thing,  which,  in  our 
judgment,  interferes  with  the  proper  administration  of  discipline, 
which  produces  disorder  and  confusion,  and  endangers  sound 
doctrine,  how  is  it  to  be  settled  ?  Here  comes  into  o})eration,  the 
established  principles  of  our  republican  constitution;  for  the  go- 
vernment of  the  Presbyterian  Church  bears  a  close  affinity  to  our 
national  government.  We  may  alter  that  constitution  whenever 
we  see  fit.  How  is  this  to  be  done?  By  the  vote  of  the  majority. 
What  rule  will  you  establish  other  than  that  which  prevails  in  the 
civil  aflairs  of  state — the  rule  that  the  majority  shall  govern? 
Wiienever  the  majority  decide  any  question,  it  is  finally  settled, 
unless  you  have  recourse  to  some  other  principle  of  government. 
But  the  power  of  the  majority  is  annulled,  if  their  decision  may 
be  overborne,  if  it  may  be  referred  to  another  tribunal  for  correc- 
tion. Look  at  the  instance  of  these  resolutions  of  the  Assembly 
of  1837.  How  were  they  decided '?  By  a  majority.  There  can 
be  no  doubt  of  that.  They  concern  discipline,  government,  and 
doctrine.  Then  it  was  a  rightful  decision.  The  majority  alone 
could  decide  in  such  matters.  And  more  than  this,  the  decision 
being  according  to  conscience,  it  is  not  our  right  to  interfere.  If 
the  Assembly  is  left  to  itself,  there  is  nothing  to  be  apprehended. 
Alien  interposition  must  lead  to  trouble  and  difficulty.  If  evil  re- 
sults from  their  measures,  they  alone  are  responsible  for  it.  Now, 
let  us  get  back  to  the  plain  language  of  the  constitution  ;  and 
where  does  it  give  to  a  civil  court,  the  right  of  interference  in 
matters  of  conscience  ?  the  right  of  deciding  on  spiritual  concerns? 
If  the  civil  power  claims  authority  to  prescribe  or  modify  our  re- 
ligious creed,  this  is  manifestly  wrong — an  usurpation  of  author- 
ity. Yet  not  more  so,  than  an  interference  with  ecclesiastical 
government  and  discipline.  Every  church  has  a  right  to  settle 
these  matters  for  itself;  and  that  any  other  power  should  interpose 
Jo  expound  their  creed,  or  to  prescribe  ecclesiastical  laws,  is  de- 
structive of  spiritual  liberty.  It  has  become  very  much  the  fashion 
of  late,  to  speak  against  creeds,     if  a  creed  is  to  be  enforced  by 


280  OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED. 

any  measure  of  compulsion,  let  it  be  admitted  that  our  liberties 
would  be  in  greater  danger  than  if  mere  civil  rights  were  attacked 
— our  rights  of  property,  our  security  of  life  and  limb.  But  if  a 
church  establishes  a  certain  creed,  what  right  have  I  to  go  in 
among  its  members,  when  I  do  not  receive  that  creed  ?  And 
what  right  to  remain  among  them,  when  1  cease  to  believe  in  its 
doctrines?  I  may  be  right  and  they  wrong,  but  still  I  am  no 
more  at  liberty  to  overturn  the  fundamental  principles  of  their 
faith,  because  it  does  not  agree  with  mine,  than  is  a  man  to  dis- 
turb the  peace,  because  he  does  not  like  a  republican  government. 
The  creed  is  but  the  agreed  principle  of  association,  the  common 
faith,  which  is  the  ground  of  union.  No  man  is  bound  to  adopt 
the  creed.  But  no  man  has  a  right  to  insist  upon  being  a  member 
of  the  society  without  adopting  it,  or  to  remain  so,  after  he  has 
ceased  to  believe  in  it. 

"Now,  in  the  constitution  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  we  find 
the  sanction  of  that  authority  which  the  church  exercises  in  all  its 
branches.  I  read  from  the  '  preliminary  principles'  to  the  Form 
of  Government,  section  eighth.  'Lastly,  that  if  the  preceding 
scriptural  and  rational  principles  be  steadfastly  adhered  to,  the 
vigor  and  strictness  of  its  discipline  will  contribute  to  the  glory 
and  happiness  of  any  church.  Since  ecclesiastical  discipline 
must  be  purely  moral  or  spiritual  in  its  object,  and  730^  attended 
with  any  civil  effects,  it  can  derive  no  force  whatever,  but  from 
its  own  justice,  the  approbation  of  an  impartial  public,  and  the 
countenance  and  blessing  of  the  great  Head  of  the  church  uni- 
versal.' And  again,  chap,  viii :  'These  assemblies  ought  not  to 
possess  any  civil  jurisdiction,  or  to  inflict  any  civil  penalties. 
Their  power  is  wholly  moral  or  spiritual,  and  that  only  ministe- 
rial and  declarative.  They  possess  the  right  of  requiring  obedi- 
ence to  the  laws  of  Christ,  and  of  excluding  the  disobedient  and 
disorderly  from  the  privileges  of  the  church.' 

"Here,  then,  is  the  whole  sanction  of  the  jurisdiction  exercised 
by  the  church — that  moral  or  spiritual  power  which  operates  by 
means  exclusively  its  own,  and  is  not  to  be  interfered  with  by  the 
civil  authority.  How  is  the  great  frame  work  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church  to  be  maintained  in  its  established  order?  Here  is  that 
frame  work.  First,  the  congregation,  governed  by  its  own  Ses- 
sion:  then  the  Presbytery ;  thirdly,  the  Synod;  and  then  a  power 
above  all  the  rest,  the  last  object  in  the  sight  of  a  member  of  this 
church,  the  ultimate  tribunal  to  which  he  can  appeal — beyond  it 
he  knows  no  appeal — the  General  Axsemhly,  which  is  just  as  su- 
preme in  ecclesiastical  matters,  as  this  honourable  court  is  in  civil 
affairs,  the  highest  tribunal  in  the  commonwealth  of  Pennsylvania. 
I  call  upon  the  court  to  say,  is  there  any  thing  within  the  whole 
circle  of  this  jurisdiction  with  which  you  would  deem  it  right  to 
interfere  'i 


OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED.  281 

"  These  bodies  we  have  been  speaking  of,  are  a  law  unto  them- 
selves. They  owe  no  submission  to  any  other  tribunal.  Is  it 
lawful,  is  it  consistent  with  spiritual  liberty,  that  the  church  should 
be  carried  out  of  its  own  sphere,  before  a  tribunal  where  prevails 
a  law  that  is  not  applicable  to  it?  and  this,  when  the  constitution 
tbrbids  the  civil  authority  to  interfere  in  any  manner  with  the 
rights  of  conscience  ?  Talk  of  a  violation  of  the  constitution  of  the 
church  !  What  greater  violation  of  it,  in  its  essence,  its  life,  its 
soul,  can  there  be,  than  dragging  it  before  a  tribunal  entirely  alien, 
here  to  compel  its  members  to  prove  (acAs  and  to  justify  their  own 
judgments  upon  those  facts '(  Demand  of  any  Presbyterian,  that 
he  point  out  the  place  where  he  finds  authority  for  this  proceed- 
ing. Where  does  he  find  the  liberty  given  to  refuse  to  submit  to 
the  judicatories  of  the  church,  and  to  refer  his  dispute  to  other 
tribunals?  And  how  does  he  find  that  this  is  to  be  done?  Is  his 
appeal  to  be  entertained  thus — not  by  calling  upon  us  to  show  our 
minutes,  and  prove  that  the  question  has  already  been  decided  by 
the' church,  but,  without  crediting  our  statements,  putting  no  con- 
fidence in  our  sincerity,  by  summoning  us,  as  if  already  convicted 
of  an  atrocious  crime,  to  justify  ourselves,  or  else  sufier  the  penalty 
of  being  hunted  down  as  we  have  been?  Where  in  the  Presbyte- 
rian constitution  will  you  find  this?  There  is  no  such  thing. 

•'  When  the  four  Synods  were  disconnected,  immediately  their 
whole  power  ceased.  Who  can  complain  that  four  Synods  are 
separated  from  a  voluntary  association?  Even  without  any  rea- 
son, the  Assembly  had  a  right  to  separate  them,  just  as  the  Sy- 
nods had  a  right  to  secede  at  pleasure.  Whether  they  shall  sub- 
mit, is  not  a  question  to  be  entertained  here.  I  mean  to  contend 
for  that  doctrine,  to  its  whole  extent,  that  it  is  not  for  this  tribu- 
nal to  look  into  the  constitution  of  the  church,  and  decide  whether 
ihey  have  been  rightfully  excluded  ;  that  the  question,  who  is  of 
the  church,  belongs  exclusively  to  the  church  to  determine,  and 
that  when  it  has  decided,  the  judgment  is  final. 

"I  propose  now,  to  examine  into  the  acts  of  the  Assembly  ot 
1837,  upon  their  own  footing,  as  if  the  court  had  the  power  to  ex- 
amine them.  For  if  it  can  take  cognizance  of  this  and  all  other 
ecclesiastical  bodies,  we  must  submit,  though  we  should  like  to 
be  more  thoroughly  persuaded  of  its  right  of  jurisdiction,  and  do 
not  feel  bound  to  conform  to  the  verdict  of  a  single  jury,  or  the 
charge  of  a  single  judge,  when  entitled  to  the  opinion  of  the  entire 
tribunal.  U  here,  finally,  the  jurisdiction  be  established,  there  can 
no  longer  be  any  question  of  its  constitutionality.  The  decision 
of  this  court  is  conclusive.  I  propose,  therefore,  to  examine  the 
proceedings  of  1837,  and  will  end  this  part  of  the  case  with  thai 
examination,  which  will  be  brief.  And  I  begin  by  asking,  by 
what  law  will  you  judge  those  proceedings?  According  to  whose 


282  OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED. 

judgment  wHi  you  judge  them?  What  will  you  appeal  to  as  a 
aground  of  argument  ?  I  say,  that  the  acts  of  the  Assembly  ol" 
J837  were  good.  Why?  Because  I  think  they  were  right. 
What  1  think  is,  however,  of  no  consequence  to  any  one  else. 
We  must  have  some  rule.  What  is  it  ?  The  Presbyterian  Church, 
by  its  highest  tribunal,  regularly  constituted,  has  perl'ormed  cer- 
tain acts,  deliberative  and  administrative;  \hesc,  prima  facie,  are 
certainly  good.  But  it  is  argued,  that  on  some  ground  or  other 
they  are  wrong.  Now,  let  us  look  closely  at  this  matter.  I  do 
not  indeed  feel  myself  competent  to  form  an  opinion  on  spiritual 
questions,  for  others.  I  go  for  one  gran-d,  consistent,  constitu- 
tional principle,  in  all  such  matters,  that  every  man  must  have 
exclusive  cognizance  of  his  own  spiritual  concerns.  1  cannot 
judge  at  all  in  regard  to  the  spirit  of  anotlier.  How,  then,  am  I 
to  argue  the  question  now  proposed?  Wliere  will  I  find  authori- 
ty for  my  doctrines  ?  Let  us  go  to  the  constitution  of  the  church. 
The  constitution  declares,  that  the  power  of  the  church  and  its 
jurisdiction,  are  purely  spiritual  and  moral,  and  that  the  civil-  au- 
thority has  no  spiritual  power.  Now,  how  will  you  test  these 
acts,  and  determine  whether  they  are  right  or  wrong?  Will  you 
appeal  to  the  scriptures?  No,  that  would  be  a  profane  use  of 
them.  They  are  not  to  be  brought  into  court,  except  where  the 
law  requires  their  use,  in  the  administration  of  oaths,  or  there  are 
other  cases  of  like  necessity.  But,  if  we  do  open  the  sacred  vol- 
ume, I  may  not  understand  it,  as  others  do,  and  they  have  a  per- 
fect right  to  understand  it  for  themselves.  My  understanding  of 
it,  is  a  guide  for  my  own  conduct  only,  not  a  directory  for  theirs. 
Yet  the  scriptures  are  the  rock  on  which  they  believe,  their  pecii- 
liar  system,  their  church,  to  be  built.  I  am  not  competent  to  say 
how  they  understand  their  Bibles.  But  our  only  security  is,  on 
the  foundation  of  the  scriptures;  from  this  rock  we  must  endea- 
vour to  avoid  being  shifted  or  thrown  off,  each  man  upon  his  own 
individual  responsibility." 

Mr.  Sergeant  read  Form  of  Government,  chap.  XII,  sections 
4  and  5,  pages  335,  336,  for  the  general  powers  entrusted  to  lhc~ 
General  Assembly. 

"  To  this  body  then  is  given  entire  authority  over  all  the  aflairs 
of  the  church,  authority  to  determine,  not  only  the  ends  to  be  at- 
tained, but  also  the  mode  in  which  power  shall  be  exercised  for 
their  attainment.  They  are  to  correct  the  errors  of  other  judica- 
tories, but  are  not  themselves  subject  to  correction.  They  have 
a  general  superintending  jurisdiction.  The  act  here  complained 
of  is,  that  four  Synods  have  been  laid  down  or  dissolved,  for 
what  the  Assembly  considered  a  sufficient  cause,  (p.  556,  argument.) 

"  The  act  of  abrogation  and  the  exscinding  resolutions,  while 
they  state  that  irregularities  had  occurred,  inconsistent  w^ith  those 


OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED.  283 

!a\vs  which  the  Assembly  was  bound  to  enforce,  do  not  allege 
any  individual  or  criminal  misconduct,  but  impute  all  the  fault  to 
the 'Plan  of  Union,'  itself.  Instead  of  laying  the  blame  upon 
their  adversaries  alone,  the  Old  School  charge  both  sides  with 
(disorders,  that  were  owing  to  the  act  of  1801,  in  which  they  had 
muiualiy  concurred.  Censure  is  cast  as  much  upon  the  General 
Assembly  as  upon  the  General  Association  of  Connecticut,  and 
the  Synods  formed  under  that  act.  Was  there  any  criminal 
charge  made  against  the  other  side?  Where  can  you  show  this, 
in  either  the  resolution  abrogatino;  the  'Plan  of  Union,'  or  the  re- 
sj-flutions  by  which  the  abrogation  was  carried  out,  to  its  legiti- 
mate consequences  ?  There  was  no  such  censure  pronounced 
upon  those  connected  with  the  four  Synods,  as  a  judicial  sentence 
invt)lves?  They  were  not  charged  with  attachment  to  the  Con- 
gregational Form  of  Government  as  a  crime,  and  besides,  they 
were  immediately  afterwards  assured  that  no  offence  was  itn- 
j'uted ;  that  it  was  not  intended  to  fasten  upon  them  any  stigma 
or  reproach,  for  they  were  invited  to  come  back,  to  prove  not 
their  innocence,  but  their  Presbyterianism,  with  the  promise,  that 
w  henev^er  satisfactory  proof  upon  that  point  had  been  given,  their 
connexion  with  the  church  should  be  restored.  Nay,  still  more 
to  facilitate  their  return,  they  were  told  to  apply  for  admission,  to 
the  nearest  and  most  convenient  Presbyteries.  Each  individual 
aud  church  was  told,  '  we  do  not  charge  you  with  any  crime — 
we  do  not  say  that  you  are  unfit  to  associate  with  us;  we  say, 
on  the  contrary,  that  you  are  fit,  if  you  are  Presbyterians.  Go 
to  the  nearest,  most  convenient  Presbytery,  and  prove  your  or- 
thodoxy.' I  take  it,  that  this  was  not  a  criminal  proceeding  at 
all..  The  exscinding  resolutions  profess  to  be,  what  I  suppose 
those  who  passed  them,  understood  that  they  were,  the  only  le- 
gitimate and  necessary  consequences  of  the  resolution,  abroga- 
ting the  '  Plan  of  Union.' 

"  In  the  next  place,  what  was  the  whole  effect  of  these  exscind- 
ing resolutions,  as  they  are  commonly  called  ?  Did  they  impose 
a  penalty  upon  any  individual  or  collection  of  individuals?  They 
merely  dissolved  the  connexion  of  the  four  Synods,  with  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly,  but  not  for  contumacy ;  not  for  any  crime  al- 
leged against  them.  All  that  the  resolutions  proposed  was,  to 
abandon  them  for  the  good  of  that  church,  under  the  protection 
of  which  they  had  thus  far  grown  and  flourished.  The  investi- 
gation had  proceeded  upon  general  grounds,  without  doing  any 
prejudice  to  personal  character.  Not  a  reproachful  word  was  ut- 
tered against  the  members  of  the  four  Synods,  unless  it  was  a  re- 
proach to  say,  that  they  were  Congregationalists.  I  do  not  hold 
that  to  be  a  reproach.  If  the  Assembly  had  a  right  to  cut  them 
off  from  the  Presbyterian  Church,  because  they  preferred  another 


284  OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED. 

Form  of  Government  and  worship,  it  had  no  right  to  censure 
them  for  this  preference.  If  being  members  of  the  church,  and 
professing  Presbyterianism,  their  belief  and  practice  had  been  in- 
consistent with  the  doctrines  and  laws  of  the  church,  they  might 
liave  been  brought  to  trial;  but  if  the  Synods  were  formed,  or 
under  the  Plan  of  1801,  and  that  Plan  was  so  vicious  as  to  ren- 
der the  connexion  repugnant  and  detrimental  to  the  church,  this, 
in  the  estimation  of  the  xA-ssembly,  for  I  do  not  myself  say  any- 
thing now  about  the  Plan,  or  the  formation  of  the  four  Synods  ; 
this  might  be,  and  was  a  good  reason  for  separating  them,  but 
certainly  was  no  reason  for  pronouncing  a  judicial  sentence  or 
imputing  crime. 

"  Now,  may  it  please  your  Honours,  I  have  stated  the  nature  of 
the  act  of  exscision,  and  the  Assembly's  grounds  for  that  act. 
Suppose  the  Assembly  entertained  the  opinion  expressed  in  the 
second  resolution,  which  from  the  beginning,  I  had  intended  to 
notice,  and  now  take  up,  as  well  for  my  original  reasons,  as  for 
the  construction  upon  it  by  Mr.  Randall.  Suppose  it  had  been 
made  clear  to  the  Assembly,  that  disorders  and  irregularities  pre- 
vailed in  the  four  Synods,  which  were  a  proper  siil)ject  for  the 
application  of  the  process  provided  in  the  constitution,  which 
would  have  justified  a  criminal  charge,  and  a  citation  to  the  bar 
of  the  Assembly  for  trial.  Then  there  were  two  grounds  of  i)ro- 
ceeding  against  the  Synods;  first,  the  unavoidable  consequences 
of  the  Plan  of  Union;  and  secondly,  the  actual  working  of  the 
Plan  in  those  Synods.  A  proceeding  resting  on  one  ground 
might  work  their  dissolution,  without  the  imputation  of  any  crime; 
a  proceeditjg  on  the  other  ground  might  have  resulted  in  the 
same  thing,  but  must  have  been  a  criminal  proceeding.  Either 
one,  independently  of  the  other,  might  have  been  sufficient  to  blot 
•them  out  of  existence.  But  the  first  ground  being  sufficient,  it 
alone  is  taken.  Then  the  second  ground  is  exhibited,  not  to  sup- 
port the  measure  of  exscision,  but  to  show  the  importance  of 
having  acted  promptly.  I  would  call  your  attention  again  to  the 
statements  made  by  the  two  committees,  of  the  majority  and  mi- 
nority. They  both  concurred  in  the  opinion  that  a  separation 
was  indispensable."     (See  Minutes  of  the  Assembly,  for  1838.) 

A  few  brief  extracts  from  Mr.  Sergeant's  speech,  in  reference 
to  the  organization  and  action  of  the  General  Assembly,  of  1838, 
will  close  this  argument. 

"The  Assembly  of  1838  met  with  full  powers,  excepting  that 
the  antecedent  Assembly  had  sent  down  to  it  a  moderator,  whom, 
up  to  a  certain  period  of  -their  session,  they  had  no  right  to  re- 
move. That  moderator,  and  the  clerks  who  were  to  assist  him 
in  the  organization,  were  continued  in  office  to  perform  certain 
acts,  and  until  those  were  performed,  they  were  beyond  the  reach 


OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED.  285 

of  the  New  Assembly,  or  rather,  that  Assembly  had  not  yet  ac- 
quired the  capacity  to  touch  them. 

*         *     •    *         *         *         #         *         *         *         * 

"  Then  we  oome  to  the  conduct  of  the  moderator,  Dr.  Elliott. 
He  too  had  been  appointed  by  the  antecedent  body,  and  sent 
down  to  preside  in  the  new  organization.  The  Assembly  of  1838 
were  not  accountable  for  him,  nor  he  to  them ;  I  mean,  that  for  a 
certain  time,  he  was  not  accountable  to  them.  The  language  of  the 
rule  is,  that  the  last  moderator  shall  preside  until  a  new  ariC  is 
appointed.  This  rule  has  been  read  several  times.  Being  one  of 
great  importance,  it  is  laid  down  in  two  distinct  places  in  the 
constitution.  (Form  of  Gov.,  chap.  XIX,  sec.  3.)  'The  moderator 
of  the  Presbytery  shall  be  chosen  from  year  to  year,  or  at  every 
tneeiing  of  the  Presbytery,  as  the  Presbytery  may  think  best.. 
The  moderator  of  the  Synod  and  of  the  General  Assembly,  shall 
be  chosen  at  each  meeting  of  those  judicatories;  and  the  modera- 
tor, and  in  case  of  his  absence,  another  member  appointed  for 
the  purpose,  shall  open  the  next  meeting  with  a  sermon,  and  shall 
hold  the  chair  until  a  new  moderator  be  chosen.'  It  is  obvious 
that  this  means,  till  a  new  one  can  be  chosen,  and  when  that 
time  arrives,  is  the  next  matter  for  our  consideration. 

"  Here  I  would  submit  to  your  Honours,  that  when  points  of 
form  acquire  such  power,  as  to  be  able  to  overturn  a  whole 
church,  they  must  be  very  closely  and  strictly  examined  ;  they 
are  equivalent  in  importance  and  force,  to  the  greatest  laws. 
iN'ow,  by  the  rules  of  the  Assembly,  what  is  the  next  thing  to  be 
done,  after  the  report  of  the  clerks  on  the  roll  ?  The  rules  pro- 
vide, that  the  clerks,  as  a  committee  of  commissions,  shall  exam- 
ine the  commissions  presented,  and  report  the  names  of  the  un- 
doubted members,  who  shall  then  take  their  seats  and  proceed  to 
business  ;  but  they  do  not  stop  here.  They  direct,  that  the  first 
thing  which  the  house  shall  do,  after  being  thus  ready  for  busi- 
ness, shall  be  the  appoinl(nent  of  a  committee  of  elections.  Well, 
I  suppose  that  is  equivalent  to  saying,  that  nothing  else  shall  be 
done,  until  a  committee  of  elections  has  been  appointed.  I  inter- 
pret the  whole  of  these  provisions  together,  as  ordering  that  the 
several  things  which  they  direct  to  be  done,  shall  all  be  done  be- 
fore the  Assembly  proceed  to  the  choice  of  a  new  moderator.  I 
am  not  inquiring,  at  present,  into  the  power  of  the  Assembly  to 
make  such  rules,  I  do  not  ask  what  was  their  efiect,  but  simply 
what  they  were?  There  was,  in  1826,  a  change  in  the  form 
prescribed  by  the  constitution,  for  examining  commissions  and 
enrolling  the  names.  Previously,  it  had  been  required  that  the 
commissions  should  be  publicly  read,  but  then  it  was  ordered 
that  they  should  be  only  examined.  After  the  adoption  of  this 
ehange  by  the  Presbyteries,  it  was  also 


286  OLD    SCHOOL    VIXDICATED. 

'"  Resolcecl,  That  so  soon  as  the  alteration  proposed  in  the  7ili 
item,  above  enumerated,  shall  appear  to  have  been  constitutional- 
ly adopted  by  the  Presbyteries,  the  following  rules  of  the  Assem- 
bly shall  be  in  force. 

"'1.  Immediately  after  each  Assembly  is  constituted  with 
prayer-,  the  moderator  shall  appcAni  a  committee  of  commission s.' 

"  This  committee  report  the  regular  commissioners  to  the  house. 

'"5.  The  first  act  of  the  Assembly,  when  thus  ready  for  busi- 
uess,  shall  be  the  appointment  of  a  committee  qf  elections,  whose 
duly  is  to  examine  all  informal  and  unconstitutional  commissions, 
and  report  on  the  same  as  soon  as  practicable.'  (p.  150.)  These 
are  the  sum  of  the  provisions  made  by  these  standing  rules.  They 
areas  strong  and  binding  as  any  articles  in  the  constitution.  Now 
it  was  clearly  not  in  the  power  of  the  house  to  do  any  thing, 
until  a  committee  of  elections  had  been  appointed.  The  old  mod- 
erator was  continued  there  to  direct  and  see  that  the  rules  were 
complied  with.  If  Dr.  Patton,  Dr.  Mason,  Mr.  Squier,  or  any- 
body else,  arise  and  propose  some  business,  differing  from  that 
required  by  the  rule,  the  moderator  is  bound  to  tell  them,  respect- 
fully, that  they  are  all  out  of  order.  Now,  there  could  be  no  ap- 
peal from  the  chair,  until  the  rules  of  the  house  were  complied 
v,'ith;  there  was  nothing  on  which  an  appeal  could  arise,  and  no 
body  by  whom  an  appeal  could  be  decided.  But  again,  there  is 
a  provision  beyond  this,  a  provision  for  the  vacancy  of  the  chair. 
Who  shall  put  a  question  then  ?  To  enable  any  body  not  in  the 
chair,  to  assume  the  duty  of  presiding,  it  is  absolutely  essential, 
t-hat  the  cljair  should  first  be  vacant.  So  long  as  it  is  occupied 
de  facto,  as  regards  the  members,  it  is  occupied  de  jure,  and  no- 
body else  than  the  actual  occupant  can  propose  any  business  to 
the  house.  If  the  chair  is  vacant,  of  course  that  is  an  emergen- 
cy requiring  a  new  rule.  Then  the  next  person  in  the  eyes  of 
t^ie  members,  as  they  all  look  towards  the  chair,  the  clerk  must 
put  any  resolution  offered,  and  this  until  the  chair  is  filled.  All 
these  rules  are  essential  to  the  due  transaction  of  business. 

"To  return  to  the  Assembly  of  181^8.  I  say,  that  until  the  com- 
mittee of  elections  had  been  appointed,  the  body  was  in  the  hands 
of  the  officers  of  the  preceding  year.  They  were  not  under  its 
control,  or  responsible  to  it,  until  the  organization  was  complete, 
and  it  was  clothed  with  its  full  and  legitimate  powers.  And  I 
say  further,  that  Dr.  Elliott  could  not  entertain  a  motion  or  ap- 
peal ;  that  he  had  been  placed  in  the  chair  merely  to  keep  order,  and 
to  perform  a  specific  duty,  ending  with  the  organization,  which 
was  to  be  completed  by  the  appointment  of  a  committee  of  elec- 
tions. Now,  it  is  clearly  in  evidence,  that  Dr.  Elliott  was  keep- 
ing very  good  order,  as  any  body  must  acknowledge  who  reads 
he  provision,  which  has  been  referred  to.     But  if  it  were  other- 


OLD    SCHOOL    VIXDICATED.  287 

wise — if  any  thing  improper  had  been  done  by  Dr.  Elliott,  this 
was  not  to  be  visited  upon  the  body  which  had  no  control  over 
him,  which  as  I  contend,  could  not  remove  him.  Now,  I  am  at- 
tempting to  vindicate  the  majority  of  the  Assembly  and  Dr.  El- 
liott; to  establish  the  point  that  it  was  not  consistent  with  justice, 
for  them  to  depart  in  the  smallest  degree  from  the  rules  prescribed, 
the  five  rules  which  were  to  govern  in  the  organization  of  the 
body,  and  at  the  same  time  to  vindicate  the  rules  themselves; 
showing,  that  when  a  contest  was  expected,  and  a  black  cloud 
lowered  over  them,  sutlicient  to  envelope  the  whole  body  in  storm  >; 
when  Dr.  Elliott  knew  that  the  elements  of  discord  and  strife 
were  gathering  in  fury,  and  unless  pent  up,  would  break  forth  in 
the  midst  of  those  who  had  collected  in  the  house  of  prayer  for 
religious  worship:  that  the  Assembly  was  composed  of  all  des- 
criptions of  people,  of  friends  and  foes;  of  those  belonging  to  the 
household  of  strangers,  and  of  persons  claiming  to  be  of  the 
household,  though  their  title  was  disputed;  this  was  a  sufficient, 
an  imperative  reason,  why  he  should  not  swerve  for  a  single  in- 
stant from  the  precise  letter  of  his  instructions.  From  the  five 
rules  of  the  Presbyterian  law  book,  which  are  to  govern  the 
church,  it  is  plain  that  no  questions  could  be  put  but  such  as  are 
incident  to  the  organization,  at  this  stage  of  progress  ;  none  such 
were  put,  Dr.  Patton's  motion  not  being  of  this  nature,  it  was 
disallowed.  Judge  Rogers  says,  that  in  deciding  it  out  of  order, 
the  moderator  was  right.  Next,  Dr.  Mason  made  a  motion,  it 
was  declared  out  of  order;  he  appealed — the  appeal  was  not  sus- 
tained. In  these  several  motions,  all  acquiesced.  Mr.  Squier 
moved,  but  was  out  of  order,  too.  Next,  Mr.  Cleaveland  rises 
and  delivers  a  written  speech.  That  paper  has  been  secreted  and 
suppressed.  It  is  unfortunate  for  the  respondents.  Instead  of 
having  the  very  words  uttered,  we  are  left  to  select  and  interpret 
the  document  from  the  testimony  of  hearers.  Here  we  put  one 
important  question.  In  such  circumstances,  in  such  a  crowd  and 
excitement,  was  it  proper,  was  it  possible,  to  pursue  the  old  busi- 
ness of  the  Assembly  then  on  hand,  correctly  and  suitably,  much 
less  to  introduce  a  new,  untried,  tumultuous,  if  not  revolutionary 
item  ?"  (For  the  details  of  this  transaction,  we  must  refer  to  Ser- 
geant's argument,  p.  574,  and  in  Miller's  Church  Case.)  Mr. 
Hubbel's  remarks  on  the  same  side  are  clear  and  convincing,  and 
the  conclusive  observations  of  Judge  Gibson,  in  his  opinion  of  the 
court.  The  several  steps  by  which  the  New  School,  pursuing  a 
concerted  scheme  through  Mr.  Cleaveland,  as  their  chief  organ 
for  the  purpose,  exhibits  a  series  of  gross  departures  from  order 
and  constitutional  rule,  through  all  their  progress,  tending  only  t^ 
demonstrate  the  extravagance  of  their  designs,  and  the  wildness 
and  folly  of  their  measures. 


288  OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED. 


CHAPTER    XXIV. 

Introductory  Reaiarks — The  Contrast — Including  eight  principal  pointu 
in  Theology — Old  School  and  New  School  compared — I.  Confession  of 
Faith,  Ac. — 11.  Extracts  from  New  School  Books. 

That  the  spirit  and  the  habit  of  wild  and  reckless  .speculation 
upon  theological  subjects,  have  prevailed  to  a  very  great  extent 
within  the  Presbyterian  (Jhurch,  during  the  last  twenty  or  thirty 
years,  is  perfectly  notorious.  The  (juestion  presented  here,  i>, 
how  far  heretical  and  unsound  opinions  have  been  published  and 
circulated  in  the  Presbyterian  Church,  by  her  ministers  and  nicni- 
bers,  in  conflict  with  her  Confession  of  Faith,  her  catechisms  and 
her  church  policy,  thus  offering  violence  to  her  constitution,  ink- 
pairing  her  character  and  influence,  and  demanding  from  her  su- 
preme judicatory  an  appropriate  remedy.  In  all  similar  casc«, 
the  avowed  sentiments  of  prominent  leaders  constitute  the  stand- 
ard of  truth,  and  the  evidence  of  the  facts  upon  which  the  inves- 
tigation is  to  rest,  and  they  form  the  test  by  which  the  party  hel(J 
in  default  must  be  tried  and  estimated,  their  guilt  graduated,  and 
ihe  award  proportioned. 

To  bring  the  unsound,  in  the  shortest  and  easiest  mtinner  possi- 
ble, to  the  constitutional  touch-stone,  we  shall  present,  in  the  form 
of  extracts  from  the  writings  and  speculations  of  New  Schooi 
men,  some  of  their  opinions  on  the  fundamental  points  of  truth  re- 
vealed in  the  Sacred  Scriptures,  and  contrast  them,  item  by  item, 
with  the  doctrines  contained  in  the  Confession  of  Faith  and  cate- 
chisms of  the  church,  as  based  upon  the  word  of  God.  This  is 
the  only  meihod  we  can  properly  pursue  in  ascertaining  the  purity 
and  fidelity,  or  detecting  the  unsoundne.>s  and  criminality,  of  gospel 
ministers  and  professing  Christians  in  our  ecclesiastical  connexion. 
It  is  perfectly  just  to  infer,  as  a  general  principle,  that  the  follow- 
ers of  those  who  are  recognized  as  leaders  in  theological  opinions 
and  church  policy,  agree  with  their  leaders;  and  tliey  are,  there- 
fore, in  common  with  them,  responsible  f<»r  whatever  of  truth,  or 
of  error,  they  may  hold  and  propagate.  Pursuing  this  course,  we 
shall  place  on  opposite  pages  or  columns,  under  the  several  heads, 
Firsf,  the  doctrines  of  our  Confession  and  Standards.  Second,  tht' 
|iublished  opinions  of  New  School  theologians  belonging  to  the 
Presbyterian  Church.  From  the  contrast,  every  reader  may 
easily  decide  as  to  the  agreement  or  discrepancy  between  these 
difierent  forms  of  expression. 

All  we  have  to  do,  is  to  see  that  the  members  of  our  own  church 
do  not  violate  our  own  system;  that  they  observe  and  comply  with 
their  sacred  obligations  to  the  church,  to  one  another,  and  to  God. 


OLD   SCHOOL    VINDICATED. 


289 


With  other  denominations,  of  vviiatever  name  or  characteristics, 
we  have  no  quarrel,  but  stand  in  a  peaceful,  friendly  alliance.  We 
are  not  bound  to  favour  their  notions,  nor  they  ours.  Whatever 
they  or  we  publish  to  the  world,  becomes  common  properly, 
which  may  be  criticised  and  controverted  before  the  great  public 
tribunal,  which  tests  and  decides  every  question,  and  by  publi'; 
sentiment,  the  great  arbiter  in  human  aflairs,  we  and  they  stancf 
or  f;dl.  We  claim  no  exemption  from  the  common  amenabilities 
of  the  heart  and  the  pen  to  this  decisive  tribunal. 

In  this  exhibition,  it  is  of  Uttle  importance  to  show,  as  other 
writers  have  attempted  to  do,  what  a  diversity  of  tongues  have 
spoken,  what  a  confusion  of  opinions  on  religious  subjects  has 
Ijeen  uttered,  by  other  denominations  and  speculators  through  the 
land.  8uch  a  review  would  teach  us  what  kind  of  company  the 
New  School  party  have  kept;  who  were  prubably  their  asso- 
ciates, their  guides,  and  seducers  into  error,  into  the  very  kennels 
of  contamination  and  guilt,  which  they  had  solemnly  promised  to 
avoid.  For  the  sake  of  brevity,  we  shall  restrict  our  view  to  a 
few  specimens  on  each  side  of  the  contrast. 


Old  School,  or  CoiVfessio.y  of 

F.^ITH. 

->    Federal  Headship  of  Adam. 

"  The  covenant  being  made 
with  Adam,  as  a  public  person, 
not  for  himself  only,  but /br  his 
posterity,  all  mankind  descend- 
ing from  him  by  ordinary  gene- 
ration, siVuiec?  in  him,  and  fell 
with  him,  in  that  first  transgres- 
sion." Larger  Gatechism,  ques- 
tion 22.  "  They  being  the  root 
of  all  mankind,  the  guilt  of  this 
sin  was  imputed,  and  the  death 
in  sin  and  corrufited  nature  co?i- 
v.eyed  to  all  their  posterity,  de- 
scending froin  them  by  ordinary 
generation."  Confession  of 
Faith,  chap,  vi,  sec.  3. 

"Original  sin  is  conveyed 
from  our  first  parents  unto  iheir 
posterity,  by  natural  generation, 
so  as  all  that  proceed  from  them 
in  that  way,  are  conceived  and 
born  in  sin."  Larger  Catechism, 
queslicjn  20. 

T 


New  School. 
Federal  Headship  of  Adam. 

"  That  Adam  was  not  the 
covenant  head  or  federal  repre- 
sentative (A  his  posterity,  and 
sustained  no  other  relation  to 
them,  than  that  which  subsists 
between  every  parent  and  his 
offspring." 

"  It .has  been  supposed  by 
many,  that  there  was  a  cove- 
nant made  with  Adam,  such  as 
this,  that  if  he  continued  to  obey 
the  law  for  a  limited  period,  all 
his  posterity  should  be  confirmed 
in  l)oliness  and  happiness  for- 
ever. What  the  reason  is  for 
this  belief,  I  am  unable  to  ascer- 
tain. I  am  not  aware  that  ihi 
doctrine  is  taught  in  the  Bible. 
I  suppose  that  mankind  vveie  a'l 
originally  under  a  covenant  of 
works,  and  that  Adam  was  not 
so  their  head  or  rcpresentatine, 
that  his  obedience  or  disobedi- 
ence, involved  iheiTi  irresistibly 


290 


OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED. 


in  sin  and  condemnation,  irre- 
spective of  their  own  acts." 
Finney's  Lectures. 

'•Nothing  is  said  of  a  cove- 
nant with  him,"  that  is,  Adam. 
"No  where  in  Scripture  is  the 
term  covenant  applied  lo  any 
transaction  with  Adam.  All 
that  is  established  here,  is  the 
simple  fact,  that  Adam  sinned, 
and  that  this  made  it  certain 
that  all  his  posterity  would  be 
sinners.  Beyond  this,  the  lan- 
guage of  the  apostle  does  not 
go ;  and  all  else  that  has  been 
said  of  this,  is  the  result  of  mere 
philosophical  speculation."* 

Mr.  Barnes  again  :  "  A  com- 
parison is  also  instituted  between 
Adam  and  Christ,  1  Cor.  15,  22, 
25.  The  reason  is,  not  that 
Adam  was  the  representative 
or  federal  head  of  the  human 
race,  about  which  the  apostle 
says  nothing,  and  which  is  not 
even  implied,  but  that  he  was 
X\\Q  first  of  the  race — he  was  the 
fountain,  the  head,  the  father; 
and  the  consequences  of  that 
first  act,  introducing  sin  into  the 
world,  rould  be  seen  every 
where.  The  words  representa- 
tive and  federal  head,  are  never 
applied  to  Adam  in  the  Bible. 
The  reason  is,  that  the  word 
representative  implies  an  idea 
which  could  not  have  existed  in 
the  case,  the  consent  of  those 
who  are  represented,  jjesides, 
the  Bible  does  not  teach  that 
they  acted  in  him  and  by  him., 
or  that  he  acted  for  them.  No 
passage  has  ever  yet  been  found 
that  stated  this  doctrine." 

*  Barnes'  Notes  on  Romans,  first 
edition,  p.  12S. 


OLD   SCHOOL    VINDICATED. 


291 


Old    DiviNMTY — CavFESsiox  of 

Faith. 

Imputation. 

"  The  sinfulness  of  that  estate 
whereinto  man  fell,  consisteth  in 
f/ie  guilt  of  Adam's  first  sin, 
the  want  of  that  righteousness 
wherein  he  was  created,  and  the 
corruption  of  his  nature,  where- 
by he  is  utterly  indisposed,  dis- 
abled, and  made  opposite  to  all 
ihat  is  spiritually  good,  and 
wholly  inclined  to  all  evil,  and 
that  continually,  which  is  com- 
monly called  original  sin,  and 
from  which  do  proceed  all  ac- 
tual transgressions."  Question 
25,  Larger  Catechism. 

"  They  being  the  root  of  all 
mankind,  the  guilt  of  this  sin 
was  imputed,  and  the  death  in 
sin  and  corrupted  nature  con- 
veyed to  all  their  posterity,^'  &c. 
Confession  of  Faith,  sec.  3. 

Dr.  Beecher,  though  generally 
wrong,  sometimes  luiwittingly 
testifies  against  hitinself  and  his 
party : 

"  The  Reformers,"  says  he, 
"'  with  one  accord,  taught  that 
the  sin  of  Adam  was  imputed  to 
all  his  posterity,  and  that  a  cor- 
r7ipt  nature  descends  from  him, 
to  every  one  of  his  posterity,  in 
consequence  of  which  infants 
are  unholy,  unfit  for  heaven,  and 
justly  exposed  to  future  punish- 
ment." "Our  puritan  fathers," 
he  continues,  "  adhered  to  the 
doctrine  of  original  sin,  as  con- 
sisting   in     the    imputation    of 


Again,  Barnes'  sermon :  "  Sin- 
ners have  no  federal  relation  to 
Adam,  and  are  not  answerable 
for  his  guilt." 

New  ScifboL. 
JVo  Imputation. 

Mr.  Barnes,  in  his  Sermon  on 
the  Way  of  Salvation,  says, 
"  Sinners  have  no  federal  rela- 
tion to  Adam.  The  notion  of 
imputation  is  an  invention  of 
mi)dern  times." 

Mr.  Finney,  in  his  Lecture.'=, 
says,  "  The  truth  is,  Adam  was 
the  natural  head  of  the  human 
race — from  the  relation  in 
which  he  stood  as  their  natural 
head,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  his 
sin  has  resulted  in  the  sin  and 
ruin  of  his  posterity." 

Barnes,  p.  95,  Notes  on  the 
Romans,  says,  *'  I  have  exam- 
ined all  the  passages  where  the 
word  imputation  occurs  in  the 
CHd  Testament,  and  have  come 
to  the  conclusion,  that  there  is 
not  one  in  which  the  word  is 
used  in  the  sense  of  reckoning 
ov  imputing  to  a  man  that  which 
does  not  strictly  belong  to  him, 
or  of  charging  on  him  that  which 
ought  not  to  be  charged  on  him, 
as  a  matter  of  personal  right. 
The  word  is  never  used  to  de- 
note imputing  in  the  sense  of 
Iransfei'ring,  or  of  charging 
that  on  one  which  does  not  pro- 
perly belong  to  him.  The  same 
is  the  case  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment. The  word  occurs  about 
forty  times,  and  in  a  similar  sig- 
nification. No  doctrine  of  trans- 
ferring, or  of  setting  over  to  a 
man,  what  does  not  properly 
belong  to  him,  be  it  sin  or  holi- 


292 


OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED. 


Adam's  sin,  and  in  hereditary 
depravity ;  and  this  continued  to 
be  the  received  doctrine  of  the 
churches  of  New  England,  until 
after  the  tinie%f  Edwards.  He 
adopted  the  views  of  the  Re- 
formers on  the  subject  of  origi- 
nal sin,  as  consisting  in  the  im- 
putation of  Adam's  sin,  and  a 
(depraved  nature,  transmitted  by 
descent."  Spirit  of  the  Pilgrims 
for  1828.     • 


ness,  can  be  derived,  therefore^ 
from  this  word."  Men  are  "sub- 
ject to  pain,  and  death,  and  de- 
pravity, as  the  consequence  of 
his  (Adam's)  sin,  he  being  the 
head,  fountain,  father,  or  root  of 
the  race,  and  having  secured,  as 
a  certain  result,  that  all  the  race 
will  be  sinners  also,  such  being 
the  organization  of  the  great  so- 
ciety of  which  he  was  the  head 
and  father.  The  drunkard,"  says 
he,  "  secures  a  result,  cotnmon- 
ly,  that  his  family  will  be  re- 
duced to  beggary,  want,  and 
woe.  A  pirate  or  a  traitor  will 
wheln>,  not  himself  only,  but  his 
family,  in  ruin.  Such  is  the  great 
law  or  constitution  on  which  so- 
ciety is  now  organized  ;  and  we 
are  not  to  be  surprised,  that  the 
same  principle  occurred  in  the 
primary  organization  of  human 
affairs." 

Mr.  Barnes,  Notes,  7th  edi- 
tion, pp.  121-222,  says,  "That 
doctrine,  (imputation)  is  nothing 
but  an  elfort  to  explain  tlie  man- 
ner of  an  event  which  the  apos- 
tle did  not  think  it  proper  to  at- 
t  tempt  to  explain.  That  doctrine 
i  is,  in  fact,  no  explanation.    It  is 
!  introducing  an  additional   diffi- 
j  culty.     For,  to   say  that   I  am 
.blameworthy,    or    ill-deserving, 
for  a   sin    in   which   I   had   no 
I  agency,  is  no  explanation,  but 
is  involving  me  in  an  additional 
1  difficulty,  still  more  perplexing, 
to  ascertain  how  such   a   doc- 
trine    ran    possibly    be    just.'' 
"Christianity  does   not  charge 
on  men  crimes  of  which  they 
are  not  guilty.     It  does  not  say, 
as  I  suppose,  that  the  sinner  is 
held  to  be  personally  answera- 


OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED. 


293 


ble  for  the  transgressions  of 
Adam,  or  of  any  other  man." 
Way  of  Salvation. 

•*  It  is  admitted,  that  this  lan- 
guage does  not  accord  with  that 
used  on  the  same  subject  in  the 
Confession  of  Faith,  and  in  other 
standards  of  doctrine.  The  main 
difference  is,  that  it  is  difficult  to 
affix  any  clear  and  definite 
meaning  to  the  expression,  '  we 
sinned  in  him,  and  fell  with  him.' 
It  is  manifest,  so  far  as  it  is  ca- 
pable of  interpretation,  that  it  is 
intended  to  convey  the  idea,  not 
that  the  sin  of  Adam  is  imputed 
to  us,  or  set  over  to  our  account, 
but  that  there  was  a  personal 
identity^  constituted  between 
Adam  and  his  posterity,  so  that 
it  was  really  our  act  and  ours 
only,  after  all,  that  is  chargeable 
on  us.  This  was  the  idea  of 
Edwards.  The  notion  of  im- 
puting sin,  is  an  invention  of 
modern  times,  and  it  is  not,  it  is 
believed,  the  doctrine  of  the  Con- 
fession of  Faith. 

"Christianity  affirms  the  fact, 
that  in  connexion  with  the  sin 
of  Adam^  or  as  a  result,  all  mo- 
ral agents  in  this  world  will  sin, 
and  sinning  will  die.  Rom.  v,  12 
-19.  It  does  not,  however,  af- 
firm any  thing  about  the  mode 
in  which  this  would  be  done. 
There  are  many  ways  conceiv- 
able in  which  that  sin  might  se- 
cure the  result,  as  there  are 
many  ways  in  which  all  similar 
facts  may  be  explained.  The 
drunkard  commonly  secures  as 
a  result,  the  fact  that  his  family 
will  be  beggared,  illiterate,  per- 
haps profane  or  intemperate. 
Both  facts  are  evidently  to  be 


294 


OLD    SCHOOL    VIXDICATKD. 


Old   Divinity — Co^fFESsION   of 
Faith. 

Moral  state  of  Infants. 

"  They  being  the  root  of  all 
mankind,  the  guilt  of  this  sin 
was  imputed,  and  the  same 
death  in  sin  and  corrupted  na- 
ture, conveyed  to  all  their  pos- 
terity, descending  from  them  b}' 
ordinary  generation.""  Confes- 
sion of  Faith,  chap.  6,  sec.  3. 

"  Original  sin  is  conveyed 
from  our  first  parents,  unto 
their  posterity,  by  natural  gene- 
ration, so  as  all  that  pi'oceed 
from  them  in  that  way,  are  con- 
cieved  and  born  in  sin."  Larger 
Catechism,  question  26. 


explained  on  the  same  principle 
as  a  part  of  moral  government.'' 
"When  Paul," says  be,"states 
a  simple  fact,  men  often  advance 
a  theory.  A  melancholy  instance 
of  this  we  have  in  the  account 
which  the  apostle  gives,  chap. 
V,  about  the  effect  of  the  sin  of 
Adam.  .  .  They  have  sought 
for  a  theory  to  account  for  it. 
And  many  suppose  they  have 
found  it  in  the  doctrine,  that  the 
sin  of  Adam  is  imputed,  or  set 
over,  by  an  arbitrary  arrange- 
ment, to  beings  otherwise  inno- 
cent, and  that  they  are  held  to 
be  responsible  for  a  deed  com- 
mitted by  a  man  thousands  of 
years  before  they  were  born. 
This  is  the  theory,  and  men  in- 
sensibly forget  that  it  is  mere 
theory.^' 

New  School. 

State    of    Infants — Ko   Moral 
Character. 

"  It  is  a  question  alike  perti- 
nent and  important,  whether  in 
the  incipient  period  of  infancy 
and  childhood,  there  can  be  any 
moral  character  whatever,  pos- 
sessed. Moral  character,  is 
character  acquired  by  acts  of  a 
moral  nature.  Moral  acts,  are 
those  ficts  which  are  contem- 
plated by  the  law,  prescribing 
the  rule  of  human  conduct."  "It 
is  obvious,  that  in  infancy  and 
incipient  childhood,  when  none 
of  the  actions  are  deliberate,  or 
the  result  of  motive,  operating 
in  connexion  with  the  knowledge 
of  law,  and  of  the  great  end  of 
all  human  actions,  no  mora! 
character  can  appropriately  be 
predicated.''    "  Properly  speak- 


OLD   SCHOOL    VIPfDICATED. 


295 


ing,  therefore,  we  can  predicate 
of  it,  neither  sin  or  holiness,  per- 
sonally considered."  Duffield 
on  Regeneration,  pp.,  377 — 78 
—79. 

Again,  p.  389:  "There  is 
no  manner  of  necessity,  in  order 
to  account  for  the  death  of  in- 
fants, to  suppose  that  the  sin  of 
Adam  became  their  personal 
sin,  either  in  respect  of  its  act, 
or  o-f  its  ill  desert." 

Finney  says:  "Children 
universally  adopt  the  principle 
of  selfishness,  because  they  pos- 
sess human  nature,  but  not  be- 
cause human  nature  is  itself 
sinful."     Sermons. 

"  Temptation  alone  is  suffi- 
cient, under  present  circumstan- 
ces."    Duffield's  Regeneration. 

"  The  infant  is  placed  in  a  re- 
bellious world,  subject  to  the  in- 
fluence of  ignorance,  with  very 
limited  and  imperfect  experi- 
ence, and  liable  to  the  strong 
impulses  of  appetite  and  passion. 
Instinct,  animal  sensation,  con- 
stitutional susceptibilities,  create 
an  impulse,  which  not  being 
counteracted  by  moral  consid- 
erations or  gracious  influence, 
lead  the  will  in  a  wrong  direc- 
tion, and  to  wrong  objects.'' 
Duffield  on  Regeneration,  pp. 
§10—379—380. 

Mr.     Finney     again     says : 

^*  Here  are  two  systems,  the  one 

maintains  that  infants  have  no 

moral    character   at    all,   until 

they    have    committed    actual 

transgression;    that   their    first 

moral    actions   are   universally 

I  sinful,  but  that  previous  to  moral 

j  action,  they  are  neither  sinful 

j  nor  holy ;  that,  as  they  have  no 


29G 


OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED. 


Old   DivixiTY — CoyFEssiox  of 

Faith — Scriptuhe. 

Depravity. 

Rom.  5,  12,  21.  "As  by 
one  man  sin  entered  into  the 
world,  and  death  by  sin,  so 
death  passed  upon  all  men,  fur 
that  all  have  sinned."  Larger 
Catechism — before  recited  in 
full. 

Man's  nature  is  so  corrupted 
by  the  fall,  "that  he  is  utterly 
indisposed,  disabled,  and  made 
opposite  unto  all  that  is  spiritu- 
ally good  and  wholly  inclined 
to  all  evil,  and  that  continually, 
which  is  commonly  called  orig- 
inal sin,  and  from  which  do 
proceed  all  actual  transgres- 
sions." "And  God  saw  that  the 
wickedness  of  man  was  great 
in  the  earth,  and  every  imagi- 
nation of  the  thoughts  of  his 
heart  was  only  evil  coniinually." 
Genesis,  6,  5.  Jobl4,  4.  "Who 
can  bring  a  clean  thing  out  an 
unclean?  Not  one."  Ps.  51,5. 
"  Behold  I  was  shapen  in  iniqui- 
ty, and  in  sin  did  my  mother 
concieve  me." 

Dr.  Beecher  states  the  views 
of  the  reformers  and  of  the  New 
England  churches,  on  the  sub- 
ject of  original  sin,  as  formerly 


moral  character,  they  deserve 
neither  praise  nor  blame,  neither 
life  nor  death,  at  the  hand  of 
God.  God  might  annihilate 
them  without  injustice,  or  he 
may  bestow  upon  them  eternal 
life,  as  a  free  and  unearned  gift. 
The  other  system  maintains 
that  infants  have  a  sinful  nature 
which  they  have  inherited  from 
Adam."     Sermons. 

New  School. 
Depravity. 
"  All  sin  consists  in  voluntary 
acts,  no  innate,  inherent. or  de- 
rived corruption  in  human  na- 
ture. 

"  In  order  to  admit  the  sinful- 
ness of  nature,  we  must  believe 
sin  to  consist  in  the  substance 
of  the  constitution,  instead  of 
voluntary  action,  which  is  im- 
possible." Sermons,  (p.  158) 
Finney. 

"  Holiness,  or  sin,  which  is 
its  opposite,  has  a  direct  and 
immediate  reference  to  those 
voluntary   acts    and    exercises, 

;  which  the  law  is  designed  to 

I  secure   or   prevent."      Duffield 

1  on  Regeneration. 

i  ,  Finney  says  :  "  All  depravity 
is   voluntary,  consisting  in  vol- 

I  untary  transgression.  It  is  the 
sinner's  own  act ;  something  of 

I  his  own  creation.  That  over 
which  he  has  a  perfect  control, 
and  for  which  he  is  entirely  re- 

h  sponsible."     Sermons. 

i  "  A  depraved  nature  can  no 
more  exist  without  voluntary 
agency  and  accountability,  than 
a  material  nature  can  exist 
without  solidity  and  extension." 
Beecher. 


OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED. 


29-7 


consisting  in  the  imputation  of 
Adam's  sin,  and  a  depraved  na- 
ture transmitted  by  descent, 
but  it  is  changed,  and  now  is 
wholly  voluntary,  and  consists 
in  a  transgression  of  the  law.^' 
Spirit  of  the  Pilgrims,  1828. 

''  From  this  original  corrup- 
tion, whereby  we  are  utterly  in- 
disposed, disabled,  and  made 
opposite  to  all  good,  and  wholly 
inclined  to  all  evil,  do  proceed 
all  actual  transgressions  /"  Con- 
fession of  Faith.  "  The  carnal 
mind  is  enmity  against  God,  and 
is  not  subject  to  the  law  of  God, 
neither  indeed  can  be."  Ro- 
mans. "  The  natural  man  dis- 
cerneth  not  the  things  of  the 
spirit  of  God."  Romans.  "For 
I  know  that  in  me  (that  is,  in 
my  flesh)  dwelleth  no  good 
ihing."  Romans,  7,  18,  &c. 
"  And  were  by  nature  the  child- 
ren of  wrath,  even  as  others." 
Ephesians,  2,  3. 

"Now,  if  I  do  that  I  would 
not,  it  is  no  more  I  that  do  it, 
but  sin  that  dwelleth  in  me." 
Romans. 


"  If  therefore,"  says  Dw 
Beecher,  "^man  is  depraved  by 
nature,  it  is  a  voluntary  and  ac- 
countable nature,  which  is  de- 
praved, exercised  in  disobedi- 
ence to  the  law  of  God.  Na- 
tive depravity,  then,  is  a  state 
of  the  affections,  in  a  voluntary 
accountable  creature."  Ser- 
mon on  the  Native  Character  of 
Man. 

"When  Adam  was  first 
created  and  awoke  into  being, 
before  he  had  obeyed  or  dis- 
obeyed his  Maker,  he  could 
have  had  no  moral  character  at 
all ;  he  had  exercised  no  affec- 
tions, no  desires,  nor  put  forth 
any  actions."  Sermons,  p.  10, 
11,  Finney. 

Dr.  Lansing  on  Regeneration, 
says:  "nothing  more  is  neces- 
sary for  God  to  do  for  you,  than 
to  make  you  willing,  and  hence 
your  voluntary  opposition  to 
him  is  the  only  obstacle  to  your 
salvation." 

Barnes,  with  approbation, 
gives  the  following  as  the  mean- 
ing of  the  Confession  of  Faith, 
and  its  framers,  a  very  false 
construction.  "  They  affirm 
that  the  difficulty  is  in  the  ivill. 
Nor  do  they  mention  any  other 
difficulty  or  obstacle  in  the  way 
of  man's  conversion ;  evidently 
implying  that  if  the  will  were 
j-ight,  there  were  no  other  ob- 
stacle" 

"  Duffield,  after  much  appa- 
rent search,  adopts  the  same 
theory,  "  that  man's  (disability) 
difficulty,  moral  defect,  'consists 
in  acts  and  exercises,'  or  '  in 
some  deranged  and  inappropri- 
ate exercises.'  " 


298 


OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED. 


Again:  **  VVe  are  infallibly 
directed  in  nnaking  our  estimate 
of  human  depravity,  to  have 
exclusive  regard  to  the  acts  and 
exercises  of  the  human  soul." 
Man's  "depravity  consists  in 
the  misdirection  and  inappro- 
priate exercise  of  his  faculties, 
not  in  wrong  faculties  inherit- 
ed."  Regeneration,  p.  310,  &c. 

Finney  teaches,  in  his  sermon 
on  total  depravity,  "  some  per- 
sons have  spoken  of  depravity, 
and  of  the  pollution  of  our  na- 
ture, as  if  there  were  son>e 
moral  ■depravity  cleaving  to  or 
ivfcorporated  with,\\\&  very  sub- 
stance of  our  being.  Now  this 
is  to  talk  utter  nonsense.  If 
such  a  depravity  were  possible, 
it  would  not  be  moral,  but  phy- 
sical depravitv.  It  could  not 
be  a  depravity  for  which  we 
are  blameworthy.  It  could  not 
be  a  sinful  depravity.  It  would 
be  a  disease  and  not  a  crime. 
Moral  depravity  is  a  quality  of 
voluntary/  action.  It  is  not 
meant  that  there  are  appetites 
or  propensities  that  are  consti- 
tutional, which  are  enmity 
against  God.  I  do  not  mean 
that  there  is  some  constitutional 
depravity  which  lies  back,  and 
is  the  cause  of  actual  transgres- 
sion. By  total  depravity,  I  do 
not  mean  that  there  is  any  sin 
in  human  beings,  or  in  any 
other  beings,  separate  from  ac- 
tual transgression." 

Dr.  Lansing  says,  "that  all 
sin  consists  in  the  voluntary  ex- 
ercises of  the  sinning  agent." 
Sermon  on  Inability. 

Barnes  says,  "all  sin  con- 
sists in  voluntary  action."    Ser- 


OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED. 


209 


Old  Divinity — Confession  and 

Catechisms. 

Man's  Inability, 

Conlession  ot  Faith,  chap.  ix. 
sec.  3.  "  Man.  by  his  fall  into 
a  state  of  sin,  hath  wholly  lost 
all  ability  of  will  to  any  spirit- 
ual good,  accompanying  salva- 
tion, so  as  a  natural  naan,  being 
altogether  averse  from  that 
which  is  good,  and  dead  in  sin, 
is  not  able,  by  his  own  strength, 
to  convert  himself,  or  to  pre- 
pare himself,  thereunto." 

"  The  sinfulness  of  that  state 
whereinto  man  fell,  consists  . 
.  .  in  the  corruption 
of  his  nature,  whereby  he  is 
utterly  disabled,  and  made  op- 
posite to  all  that  is  spiritually 
good."    Lar.  Cat.,  question  26. 

"Can  the  Ethlopean  change 
his  skin,  or  the  leopard  his  spots  1 
Then  may  ye  also  do  good  that 
are  accustomed  to  do  evil."  Je- 
remiah xiii,  23. 

"No  man  can  come  to  me, 
except  the  Father  who  hath  sent 
me,  draw  him."     John  vi,  44. 

"The  carnal  mind  is  not  sub- 


mon  on  Salvation.  In  his  note 
upon  Romans.,  chapter  viii,  7ih 
ver«e — ■'•*  The  carnal  mind  is 
enmity  against  God" — he  says: 
."  It  does  not  mf  an  the  mind  it- 
self the  intellect  or  the  will ;  it 
does  not  suppose  that  the  mind 
or  soul  is  physically  depraved, 
or  opposed  to  God,  but  it  means 
that  the  minding  of  the  things  of 
the  fleshy  giving  to  them  supreme 
attention,  is  hostility  to  God." 

"  The  heart  is  deceitful  above 
all  things,  and  desperately 
wicked.""     Jeremiah,  xvii,  9. 

New  School. 
Man's  entire  ability,  ^t. 

Dr.  Beecher's  Views  in  The- 
ology, pp.  30,  31.  "That  man 
possesses,  since  the  fall,  the 
powers  of  agency  requisite  to 
obligation,  on  the  ground  of  the 
possibility  of  obedience,  is  a  mat- 
ter of  notoriety.  Not  one  of  the 
powers  of  mind,  which  consti- 
tuted ability  before  the  fall,  has 
been  obliterated  by  that  event. 
All  that  has  ever  been  conceived, 
or  that  can  now  be  conceived,  as 
entering  into  the  constitution  of 
a  free  agent,  capable  of  choosing 
life  or  death,  or  which  did  exist 
in  Adam,  when  he  could  and  did 
obev,  yet  mutable,  survived  the 
fall." 

Page  47.  "  This  doctrine,  of 
the  natural  ability  of  choice 
commensurate  loith  obligation, 
has  been,  and  is,  the  received 
doctrine  of  the  universal  ortho- 
dox church,  from  the  primitive 
age  down  to  this  day." 

Duifield  on  Regeneration,  p. 
542.  '•  Not  much  less  deluding 
are  the  system  and  tactics  of 


300 


OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED. 


ject  to  the  law  of  God — neither, 
indeed,  can  be."  "  Without  me, 
ye  can  do  nothing."  Johnv,  4,  5. 

"  The  natural  m.an  discernelh 
not  the  things  of  the  spirit  of 
God,  neither  can  he  know  them, 
because  they  are  spiritually  dis- 
cerned."  1  Cor.  ii,  14. 

'*  The  flesh  lusteth  against  the 
spirit,  and  the  spirit  against  the 
flesh  ;  so  that  ye  cannot  do  the 
things  thai  ye  would." 


Old  Divinity. 
Regeneration. 
"Except    a    man    be    born 
again,  he  cannot  see  the  king- 
dom of  God."    John  iii,  3. 
"  A  new  heart  will  I  give  you, 


those,  who,  fearing  to  invade 
the  province  of  the  spirit,  are 
careful  to  remind  the  sinner, 
that  he  is  utterly  unable,  by  his 
own  unassisted  powers,  either  to 
believe  or  to  repent,  to  the  sav- 
ing of  his  soul.  It  might  as  truly 
be  said,  that  he  cannot  rise  and 
walk,  by  his  own  unassisted 
powers." 

Finney  says,  Sermons,  &c., 
pp.  18,  37,  38:  *' As  God  re- 
quires men  to  make  themselves 
a  new  heart,  on  pain  of  eternal 
death,  it  is  the  strongest  possible 
evidence,  that  they  are  able  to 
do  it:  to  say  he  has  command- 
ed them  to  do  it,  without  telling 
them  they  are  able,  is  consum- 
mate trifling If  the 

sinner  ever  has  a  new  heart,  he 
must  obey  the  command  of  the 
text,  and  makd  it  himself." 
"  Sinner  !  instead  of  waiting  and 
praying  for  God  to  change  your 
heart,  you  should  at  once  sum- 
mon up  your  powers,  put  forth 
the  effort,  and  change  the  go- 
verning preferences  of  your 
mind." 

Dr.  Beecher,  p.  67,  (Views 
in  Theology,)  defines  natural 
ability  to  be  "the  plenary  pow- 
ers of  a  free  agent — the  intel- 
lectual and  moral  faculties 
which  God  has  given  to  man, 
commensurate  with  his  require- 
ments.^' 

New  School. 
Regeneration. 

Mr.  Finney  says :  "  A  change 
of  heart  (regeneration)  then, 
consists  in  changing  the  con- 
trolling preference  of  the  mind, 


OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED. 


301 


and  a  new  spirit  will  I  put  with- 
in you."  Ezekiel  xxxvi,  26. 

"  Create  in  me  a  clean  heart, 
O  God,  and  renew  a  right  spirit 
within  me."     Psalms  li,  10. 

*•  Which  were  born,  not  of 
blood,  nor  of  the  will  of  the  fiesh, 
nor  of  the  will  of  man,  but  of 
God."     John  i,  13. 

"  He  saved  us,  by  the  wash- 
ing of  regeneration,  and  renew- 
ing of  the  Holy  Ghost."  Titus 
iii,  5. 

"  And  you  hath  he  quickened, 
who  were  dead  iti  trespasses 
and  sins."  Ephesians  ii,  1. 

"For  we  are  his  workman- 
ship, created  in  Christ  Jesus. 
.  .  If  any  man  be  in  Christ, 
he  is  a  new  creature,  old  things 
are  passed  away,  and  all  things 
are  become  new."  See  Confes- 
sion of  Faith,  chap,  x,  sec.  1. 

*'  All  those  whom  God  hath 
predestinated  unto  life,  and  tliose 
only,  he  is  pleased,  in  his  ap- 
pointed and  accepted  time,  eflcc- 
tually  to  call  by  his  word  and 
spirit,  out  of  that  state  of  sin  and 
death,  in  which  they  are  b}^  na- 
ture, to  grace  and  salvation,  by 
Jesus  Christ;  ealightening  their 
minds,  spirituals  and  savingly, 
to  understand  the  things  of  God, 
taking  away  their  heart  of  stone 
and  giving  unto  them  a  heart  of 
flesh,  renewing  their  wills,  and 
by  his  almighty  power,  deter- 
mining them  to  that  which  is 
good,  and  efFectually  drawing 
them  to  Jesus  Christ,  yet  so  as 
they  come  most  freely,  being 
made  willing  by  his  grace." 

"  This  effectual  call  is  of 
God's  free  and  special  grace 
alone;  not  from  any  thing  at  all 


in  regard  to  the  end  of  pursuit. 
The  selfish  heart  is  a  preference 
of  self  interest  to  the  glory  of 
God,  and  the  interests  of  his 
kini2;dom.  A  new  heart  con- 
sists  in  a  preference  of  the 
glory  of  God,  and  the  interests 
of  his  kingdom    to   one's  own 

happiness It   is   a 

change  in  the  choice  of  a  su- 
preme ruler. 

Duffield  says:  "It  is  goino; 
altogether  beyond  the  analogy 
in  the  case,  to  assert  that  there 
is  in  regeneration,  the  injection, 
infusion,  implantation  or  crea- 
tion, of  a  new  principle  of  spir- 
itual life."  "  Whenever  the 
spirit  of  God  excites  and  se- 
cures in  the  mind  and  heart  of 
man,  those  acts  and  emotions 
which  are  appropriate  to  his 
rational  soul,  {.  e.,  when  they 
are  directed  to  God,  as  his  su- 
preme good  and  ciiief  ejid,  he 
is  renewed,  regenerated,  born 
again."  As  to  the  mode,  hear 
him:  "Shall  we  suppose  that 
God  cannot  do  with  sinners,  in 
reference  to  himself,  what  one 
man  has  done  with  another  i* 
that  a  physical  elficiency  is  ne- 
cessary, to  make  the  sinngr 
willing  to  confide  in  him,  a.nd 
repent  of  his  rebellion  ?  To 
suppose  this  is,  in  fact,  to  at- 
tribute a  moral  influence  to  a 
man  more  potent  than  that 
which,  in  such  a  case,  it  would 
be  requisite  God  should  exert.  It 
would  be  in  effect,  to  say,  that 
man  can  subdue  his  foe,  and  by 
an  appropriate  moral  influence 
convert  him  into  a  friend :  but 
that  God  cannot  convert  his 
enemy  and  bring  him  to  believe, 


302 


OLD    SCHOOL    VI\DICATED. 


foreseen  in  tnan,  who  is  alto- 
gether passive  therein,  until,  be- 
ing quickened  and  renewed  by 
the  Holy  Spirit,  he  is  thereby 
enabled  to  answer  this  call,  and 
to  embrace  the  grace  oll'cred 
and  conveyed  in  it." 

The  language  of  the  New 
Testament,  its  figures  and  de- 
scriptions, all  iin[)ly  and  rc]ire- 
scnl  a  change  of  nature,  such  as 
l)cing  born  again,  becoming  new 
<;realurcs,  rising  from  the  dear!, 
beinsT  renewed  in  the  spirit  ol 
the  mind,  dymg  to  sin  and  livmg 
to  righteousness,  putting  off  the 
old  man,  and  putting  on  the  new 
man,  being  irigralieJ  nitoa  new 
st(K:l<,  having  a  divine  seed  im- 
planted in  the  heart,  being  made 
partakers  of  the  divine  nature. 

"  Who  is  altogether  passive 
therein" — passive  in  the  work 
— passive  in  the  act  of  regene- 
ration. 

Old  School  Pivimtv. 
Rer.nnrdial'wn — Re  dcmplion  — 

Satisfaction  of  Christ — Swm- 

med  up  in  Jltnndmtml. 

Romans,  v,  19.  "For  as  by 
one  man's  disob«dience,  many 
were  made  sinners,  so  by  the 
ob'edlence  of  one,  shall  many  he 
made  righteous." 

Hebrevvs,  ix,  M.  "How 
much  more  shall  the  blood  of 
Christ,  who,  through  the  eternal 
spirit,  offered  himself  without 
spot  to  God,  purge  your  con- 
science from  dead  works,  to 
serve  the  living  God." 

Romans,  iii,  2h,  20.  "  Whom 
,  God  hath  set  forth,  to  be  a  pro- 
pitiation,  throu;,'h    faith    in    his 
blood,  to  declare  his  rightcous- 


except  he  puts  forth  his  physical 
power,  and  literally  creates  him 
over  again."  pp.,  492,  493. 
"  Motives,  moral  suasion,  pro- 
duces the  change." 

Mr.  Fintiey  says;  "The 
spirit  pours  the  expostulation 
hoine  with  such  power,  that  the 
sinner  turns."  .  .  "  Now,  in 
speaking  of  this  change,  it  is 
perfectly  |)roper  to  say,  that  the 
spirit  turned  him,  just  as  you 
would  say  of  a  man  who  iiarl 
f)ersuaded  another  to  change 
his  mind  on  the  subject  of  poli- 
tics; that  he  had  converted  fiim 
and  brought  him  over.  Some 
have  douf)ted  this,  and  supp(;sed 
that  it  is  e(]uivalent  to  denying 
the  s|)irit's  agency,  altogelfier, 
to  maintain  that  he  converts 
sinners  by  motives."  Sermons, 
pp.,  21^27,  28,  30,  &c. 


New  School  Divjmtv. 
].  C/irist  vol  the  Icij^al  suhstiute 
of  siiinnrs.      2.   Did  riot  en- 
dure, the.  pp.n(dty  of  the   lair 
in   their  behalf,     'i.  Did  not. 
pay  the  debt  of  his  people. 
The  fi)llowing  extracts  from 
Dr.  neman's  Qilfrmons    on    the 
Atonement,  and  from  others  on 
kindred     topics,     will     exhibit 
clearly  the  false  notions  of  New 
School  men,  on  this  sulijecl. 

"  The  law  can  have  no  penal 
demand,  except  against  the  of- 
fender. With  a  substitute,  it 
has  no  concern ;  and  though  a 
thousand  substitutes  should  die, 
the  law  ill  itself,  considered  and 
left  to  its  own  natural  operatio?i. 
would  have  the  same  demand 


OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED. 


303 


ness  for  the  remission  of  sins, 
that  are  past,  through  the  for- 
bearance of  God  ;  to  declare,  I 
say,  at  this  time,  his  righteous- 
r.ess;  that  he  might  be  just,  and 
the  juslifier  of  him  which  be- 
heveth  in  Jesus." 

Hebrews,  x,  14.  "  For  by 
one  offering,  he  hath  perfected 
forever  them  that  are  sanctified." 

1  Peter,  iii,  18.  "  For  Christ 
also' hath  once  suffered  for  sins, 
the  just  for  the  unjust,  that  he 
might  bring  us  to  God,  being  put 
to  death  in  the  fiesh,  but  quick- 
ened by  the  spirit." 

See  Confession  of  Faith,  chap, 
viii,  sec.  5.  "  The  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  by  his  perfect  obedience, 
and  sacrifice  of  himself,  which 
he,  through  the  eternal  spirit, 
once  offered  up  unto  God,  hath 
fully  satisfied  the  justice  of  his 
father,  and  purchased  not  only 
reconciliation,  but  an  everlasting 
inheritance  in  the  kingdom  of 
heaven,  for  all  those  whom  the 
Father  hath  given  unto  him." 
"  For  he  hath  made  him  who 
knew  no  sin,  to  be  made  sin  for 
us,  that  we  might  be  made  the 
righteousness  of  God  in  him." 

We  observe  here,  by  way  of 
explanation,  tha^  by  Christ's  en- 
during the  penalty  of  the  law,  is 
not  meant  that  he  endured  lite- 
rally the  same  sufferings,  either 
in  kind  or  in  duration,  which 
would  have  been  inflicted  upon 
the  sinner,  if  a  saviour  had  not 
been  provided.  In  a  penalty, 
some  things  are  essential — 
others  incidental.  It  was  es- 
sential to  the  penalty,  that 
Christ  should  suffer  a  violent 
and     ignoininious     death,     but 


upon  the  transgressor,  which  it 
always  had.  This  claim  can 
never  be  invalidated  ;  this  penal 
demand  can  never  be  extin- 
guished." "  Others,"  he  says, 
"  contend  that  the  real  penalty 
of  the  law  was  inflicted  upon 
Christ,  and  at  the  same  time  ac- 
knowledge, that  the  suflerings 
of  Christ  were  not  the  same,  in 
nature  or  degree,  as  those  sul- 
ferings  which  were  threatened 
against  the  transgressor.  The 
words  of  our  text  are  considered 
by  many,  as  furnishing  unequiv- 
ocal testimony  to  the  fact,  that 
Christ  endured  the  penalty  of 
the  law,  in  the  room  of  his  peo- 
ple. '  Christ  hath  redeemed  us 
from  the  curse  of  the  law,  beine: 
made  a  curse  for  us.'  The 
apostle  tells  us  in  what  sense  he 
was  made  a  curse  for  ns. 
'Cursed  is  every  one  that  hang- 
eth  on  a  tree.'  Believers  are 
saved  from  the  curse  or  penalty 
of  the  law,  by  the  consideration 
that  Christ  was  made  a  curse 
for  them,  in  another  and  verv 
different  sense.  He  was  made 
a  curse,  inasmuch  as  he  suffered, 
in  order  to  open'  the  door  of 
hope  to  man,  the  pains  and  ig- 
nomy  of  crucifixion;  he  hung 
upon  a  tree!  he  died  as  one  ac- 
cursed." 

He  adds  afterwards,  "  If  it 
should  be  said,  that  the  divine 
veracity  was  pledged  to  execute 
the  law,  we  reply,  that  the  di- 
vine veracity  can  find  no  sup- 
port in  that  kind  of  infliction  of 
the  curse,  which  is  here  sup- 
posed. A  substantial  execution 
of  the  law,  an  endurance  of  the 
penalty,  so  far  as  the  nature  of 


304 


OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED. 


whether  he  should  die  by  decap- 
itation, or  by  crucifixion,  was 
incidental.  It  was  essential  that 
he  should  sufFer  for  our  sins,  but 
ii(;w  long  his  suffevings  should 
continue,  was  incidental.  If  in- 
flicted upon  us,  they  must  ne- 
cessarily be  eternal,  because  Sin 
is  an  infinite  evil,  and  finite  be- 
ings cannot  endure  the  punish- 
ment which  is  due  to  it,  except 
by  an  eternal  duration.  But 
from  the  infinite  dignity  of 
Chi-jst's  character,  the  penal  de- 
mands of  the  law  could  be  fully 
answered  by  his  suffering  ever 
so  short  a  time.  The  imputa- 
tion of  our  sins  to  Christ,  does 
not  involve  a  transfer  of  moral 
character,  but  only  of  legal  re- 
sponsibility. In  being  made  sin 
for  us,  Christ  did  not  become 
personally  a  sinner.  What  is 
intended,  then,  by  Christ's  suf- 
fering the  penalty  of  the  law  as 
our  substitute  is,  that  in  law  he 
assumed  our  place,  whereby  he 
fully  satisfied  divine  justice,  be- 
irtgr  made  a  curse  for  us." 
Wood's  Old  and  New  Divinity, 
pp.  91,  92.  In  support  of  these 
passages,  we  might  refer  to  an 
impressive  catalogue  of  wise 
and  holy  men,  of  ages  past, 
holding  these  views,  Bellamy, 
Bates,  Owen,  Beza,  Wither- 
spoon,  Edwards,  Davies,  Fin- 
lev,  and  a  long  list  of  like  char- 
acter. 


the  case  admitted  or  required, 
an  infliction  of  suffering,  not 
upon  the  transgressor,  but  upon 
a  surety,  when  the  law  had  not 
made  the  most  distant  allusion 
to  a  surety,  certainly  has  much 
more  the  appearance  of  an  eva- 
sion, than  execution,  of  the  law. 
As  to  imputation,  he  says,  we  do 
den}^  that  the  sins  of  men,  or  of 
any  part  of  our  race,  were  so 
transferred  to  Christ,  that  they 
became  his  sins,  or  were  so 
reckoned  to  him,  that  he  sus- 
tained their  legal  responsibili- 
ties." Again,"  There  is  nothing 
in  the  character  of  Christ's  suf- 
ferings, which  can  affect  or 
modify  the  penally  of  the  law. 
These  sufferings  were  not  legal. 
They  constituted  no  part  of  that 
curse  which  was  threatened 
against  the  transgressor."  pp. 
64,65.  "The  penalty  of  the 
law,  strictly  speaking,  was  not 
inflicted  at  all ;  for  this  penalty 
in  which  was  embodied  the 
principles  of  distributive  justice, 
required  the  death  of  the  sinner, 
and  did  not  require  the  death  of 
Christ." 

Dr.  Beman  says,  p.  65  :  "The 
law  or  justice,  that  is,  distribu- 
tive justice,  as  expressed  in  the 
law,  has  received  no  satisfaction 
at  all.  The  whole  legal  system 
has  been  suspended,  at  least  for 
the  present,  in  order  to  make 
way  for  tlie  operation  of  one  of 
a  different  character.  In  intro- 
ducing this  system  of  mercy, 
which  involves  a  suspension  of 
the  penal  curse,  God  has  re- 
quired a  satisfaction  to  the  prin- 
ciples of  genera]  or  public  jus- 
tice ;  a  satisfaction  which  will 


OLL»    SCHOOL    VliXDICATEDo 


305 


effectually  secure  all  the  good 
to  the  universe,  which  is  intend- 
ed to  be  accomplished  by  the 
penalty  of  the  law,  when  inflict- 
'ed,  and  at  the  same  time,  pre- 
vent all  that  practical  mischief 
which  would  result  from  arrest- 
ing the  hand  of  punitive  justice, 
without  the  intervention  of  an 
atonement."  pp.  63,  66.  This 
general  or  public  justice,  he 
says,  "has  no  direct  reference 
to  law,  but  embraces  those 
principles  of  virtue  or  benevo- 
lence, by  which  we  are  bound 
to  govern  our  conduct,  and  by 
which  God  himself  governs  the 
universe.  This  atonement  was 
requked,  that  God  might  be  just 
or  righteous,  that  is,  that  he 
might  do  the  thing  which  was 
fit  and  proper,  and  best  and 
most  expedient  to  be  done,  and 
at  the  same  time  be  at  perfect 
liberty  to  justify  him  which  be- 
lieveth  in  Jesus."  "  The  necessi- 
ty of  this  atonement,"  he  says, 
"  will  farther  appear,  if  we  con- 
template the  relations  of  this 
doctrine  with  the  rational  uni- 
verse. We  may  naturally  sup- 
pose it  was  the  intention  of 
God,  in  saving  sinners,  to  make 
a  grand  impression  on  the  uni- 
verse." Observe  in  Dr.  Be- 
man's  scheme,  particularly,  the 
following  expressions :  "  the  pro- 
visions of  the  law  are  entirely 
set  aside  in  our  world  ;"  atone- 
ment "  has  no  direct  reference 
(o  law,"  and  yet  "involves  a 
suspension  of  its  legal  curse; 
"the  law  has  no  concern  with 
a  substitute."  In  all  that  God 
has  done,  "it  was  his  intention 
to  make  a  grand  impression 
U 


306 


OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED. 


Old  Divimty. 
On  Justification. 
"  Those  whom  God  eflectu- 
ally  calleth,  he  also  freely  jusli- 
lielh;  not  by  infusing  righteous- 
ness into  them,  but  by  pardoning 
their  sins,  and  by  accounting 
and  accepting  their  persons  as 
righteous;  not  for  any  thing 
wrought  in  them,  or  done  by 
them,  but  for  Christ's  sake 
alone ;  not  by  imputing  faith  it- 
self, the  act  of  believing,  or  any 
other  evangelical  obedience,  to 
them,  as  their  righteousness,  but 
by  imputing  the  obedience  and 
satisfaction  of  Christ  unto  ihem, 
they  receiving  and  resting  on 
him  and  his  righteousness,  by 
faith,  which  faith  they  have  not 
of  themselves,  it  is  the  gift  of 
God."  Confession  of  Faith, chap, 
xi,  sec.  1. 

Section  2.  '«  Faith,  thus  re- 
ceiving and  resting  on  Christ 
and  his  righteousness,  is  the 
alone  instrument  of  justifica- 
tion," &c.  Section  3.  "  Christ, 
by  his  obedience  and  death,  did 
fully  discharge  the  debt  of  all 
those  that  are  thus  justified,  and 
did  make  a  proper,  real,  and  full 
satisfaction  to  his  Father's  jus- 
lice,  in  tkeir  behalf;    vet  inas- 


upon  the  universe."  .... 
The  death  of  Christ  was  not  a 
real,  vicarious,  atoning  sacrifice, 
but  a  mere  exhibition  or  display 
of  what  God  might  do  for  some 
high  state  purposes;  a  brilliant 
masquerade,  to  excite  profound 
and  universal  gaze ;  an  empty 
parade,  a  splendid  sham,  deeply 
to  impress  the  universe,  to  sat- 
isfy public  justice. 

New  School. 
On  Justification. 
Mr.  Finney  says:  "  GospeS 
justification  is  not  by  the  im- 
puted righteousness  of  Christ. 
Under  the  gospel,  sinners  are 
not  justified  by  having  the  obe- 
dience of  Jesus  Christ  set  down 
to  their  account,  as  if  he  had 
obeyed  the  law  for  them,  or  in 
their  stead.  It  is  not  an  uncom- 
mon mistake,  to  suppose  that 
when  sinners  are  justified  under 
the  gospel,  they  are  accounted 
righteous  in  the  eye  of  the  law, 
by  Jiaving  the  obedience  or 
righteousness  of  Christ  imputed 
to  them.  I  can  only  say,  that 
this  idea  is  absurd  and  impossi- 
ble, for  the  reason  that  Jesus 
Christ  was  bound  to  obey  the 
law  for  himself,  and  could  no 
more  perform  works  of  supere- 
rogation, or  obey  on  our  ac- 
count, than  any  body  else:"  "this 
would  have  been  true,  if  Clirist 
had  been  a  human,  finite,  and 
ordinarv  being,  but  being  divine 
in  his  nature,  as  well  as  human, 
and  infinite  in  perfection,  the  ob- 
jection here  made,  and  usually 
urged  by  Socinians,  is  of  ni> 
force."  "Abraham's  faith  was 
imputed  to  hira  for  righteous- 


OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED. 


sol- 


much  as  he  was  given  by  the 
Father  for  them,  and  his  obe- 
dience and  satisfaction  accepted 
in  their  stead,  and  both  freely, 
not  for  anything  in  them,  their 
justification  is  only  of  free  grace; 
that  both  the  exact  justice  and 
rich  grace  of  God,  might  be 
glorified  in  the  justification  of 
sinners." 


ness,  and  because  it  worked  by 
love,  and  therefore  produced 
hohness.  Justifying  faith  is  ho- 
liness, so  far  as  it  goes,  and  pro- 
duces holiness  of  heart  and  life, 
and  is  imputed  to  the  believer 
as  holiness,  not  instead  of  holi- 
ness." Lectures,  pp.  215,  216. 
Mr.  Barnes  says,  "  the  phrase 
righteousness  of  God,  is  equiva- 
lent to  God's  plan  of  justifying 
man."  On  this  he  observes :  '•  It 
is  not  that  his  righteousness  be- 
comes ours ;  this  is  not  true, 
and  there  is  no  intelligible  sense 
in  which  that  can  be  understood^ 
But  it  is  God's  plan  for  pardon- 
ing sin,  and  for  treating  us  as  if 
we  had  not  committed  it." 
Notes  on  the  Romans,  pp.  28, 
29.  At  p.  94  :  "  Abraham  be- 
lieved God,  and  it  was  counted 
unto  him  for  righteousness;"  he 
observes :  "  the  word  '  it,'  here, 
evidently  refers  to  the  act  of  be- 
lieving. It  does  not  refer  to  the 
righteousness  of  another,  of  Godj 
or  of  the  Messiah;  but  the  dis- 
cussion is  solely  of  the  strong 
act  of  Abraham's  faith,  which  in 
some  sense  was  counted  to  him 
for  righteousness.  In  what 
sense  this  was,  is  explained  di- 
rectly after.  All  that  is  mate- 
rial to  remark  here,  is,  that  the 
act  of  Abraham,  the  strong  con- 
fidence of  his  mind  in  the  pro- 
mises of  God,  his  unwavering 
assurance,  that  what  God  pro- 
mised he  would  perform,  was 
reckoned  for  righteousness.  The 
same  thing  is  more  fully  ex- 
pressed, verses  18,  22.  When, 
therefore,  it  is  said  that  the 
righteousness  of  Christ  is  ac- 
counted or  imputed  to  us;  when 


308 


OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED. 


it  is  said  that  his  merits  are 
transferred  and  reckoned  as 
ours ;  whatever  may  be  the 
truth  of  the  doctrine,  it  cannot 
be  defended  by  this  passage  of 
scripture;  faith  is  always  an 
act  of  the  mind;  God  promises, 
the  man  believes,  and  this  is  the 

whole  of  it,' 

.  .  Thus  Mr.  Barnes  teaches 
that  the  act  of  believing  is  im- 
puted for  righteousness  ;  the 
Confession  of  Faith  says,  "  not 
by  imputing  faith  itself,  the  act 
of  believing,  or  any  other  evan- 
gelic obedience  to  them,  as  their 
right  eousness."  The  Confes- 
sion of  Faith  adds,  that  we  are 
justified  on  principles  of  law  and 
justice,  as  well  as  of  grace  and 
mercy,  all  harmoniously  meet- 
ing in  the  cross  of  Christ.  Mr. 
Barnes  says,  "  It  does  not  (Ro- 
mans, i.  17)  touch  the  question, 
whether  it  is  by  imputed  right- 
eousness or  not ;  it  does  not  say 
that  it  is  on  legal  principles." 
p.  28. 

We  might  easily,  did  our  limits  permit  and  the  case  require  it 
extend  this  exhibition  of  false  theology  or  mutilated  Scripture,  in- 
definitely, as  New  School  publications  are  replete  with  repeated 
and  multiplied  statements  of  this  erroneous  and  enormous  charac- 
ter. Jf  what  is  presented,  is  not  sufficient  to  establish  the  charge 
of  heresy  against  the  New  School,  a  larger  amount  of  quotations 
from  their  printed  works  of  a  like  nature,  would  also  fail  of  this 
object. 


OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED.  309 


CHAPTER    XXV. 


Remarks  upon  the  eleventh  chapter  of  Dr.  Judd's  Volume,  p.  214,  &c., 
headed,  "  Our  position — Duty — Prospects" — Substantial  renunciation  of 
Presbyterianism. 

The  avowals  and  disclosures  contained  in  this  chapter,  will 
satisfy  any  intelligent  and  candid  reader,  of  two  facts  : 

First,  that  the  reasons  alleged  by  the  Old  School  for  the  Ab- 
rogation, were  real  and  honest  in  themselves,  and  sufficient  to 
justify  that  act. 

Second,  that  the  same  reasons  now  exist,  in  such  form  and 
force,  as  to  warrant  the  permanence  of  that  separation  or  ex- 
clusion. 

I.  To  justify  the  Abrogation  :  They  say,  p.  215,  "  Our  posi- 
tion, in  respect  to  doctrine,  is  between  latitudinarianism  and  uni- 
formity." They  consider  themselves,  then,  half-way  men  be- 
tween truth  and  error,  not  strictly  bound  to  either.  Now,  our 
preceding  illustrations  show,  that  there  never  was  a  place  for 
such  men,  in  the  Presbyterian  Church.  They  go  on  to  say  : 
"  We  maintain,  the  Confession  of  Faith  and  catechisms,  framed 
and  adopted  by  the  Westminster  Assembly,  as  containing  the 
system  of  doctrines  taught  in  the  Holy  Scriptures."  This  is, 
when  properly  viewed,  a  rejection  of  the  very  Confession  and 
tatechistn  which  they  are  professing  to  receive.  Did  the  As- 
sembly of  divines  at  Westminster,  who  framed  and  adopted  this 
Confession  and  Catechism,  perform  that  act  with  reserves  and 
modifications?  did  they  adopt  and  publish  it  as  containing  the 
undefined  System  of  doctrines  taught  in  the  Holy  Scriptures? 
The  term  "system,"  is  a  latitudinarian,  deceptive  term,  selected 
and  employed  as  an  inlet  to  error.  In  this  application,  it  is  in- 
tended to  admit  the  idea  of  amplification  or  restriction,  of  en- 
grafture  or  change,  of  invention  or  perversion,  of  multiplication 
or  deduction  of  items.  No  such  modification,  not  the  slightest 
shade  of  such  a  thought  or  imagination,  was  conceived  of,  by 
the  framers  of  these  standards  of  truth.  And  they  who  do  not 
receive  and  adopt  these  documents,  these  specific,  smind  words, 
just  as  they  were  written  and  uttered  at  first,  do  not  receive 
them  at  all.  They  '•'  maintain"  something  else,  entirely  diiier- 
ent';  some  vague  and  indefinite  phase  of  thought  or  fancy, 
which  they  secretly  intend  to  originate  and  mature  into  a 
shape,  more  or  less,  at  pleasure,  conformed  to  the  Confession 
and  catechism,  and  then  call  it  a  system  of  doctrines  taught  by 
the  Westminster  Assembly,  and  founded  on  the  Holy  Scrip- 
tures.    But  who  can  tell  what  that  system  of  doctrines  now  is, 


SlO  OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED. 

or  may  become  ?  Here  is  profound  ambiguity  and  uncertainty. 
This  is  no  adoption  at  all.  It  is  impossible  to  tell  what  such 
pretended  adopters  intended.  There  is  no  distinct  and  positive 
obligation  arising  out  of  it.  Such  adopters  cannot  be  held  to 
any  construction,  which  is  not  defined  and  understood.  Hence, 
Dr.  Judd,  speaking  for  the  New  School  mass,  proceeds  to  say  : 
"  We  believe  that  perfect  uniformity,  in  reference  to  a  system 
so  comprehensive,  is  not  to  be  expected,  and  ougiit  not  to  be 
required.  It  must  be  so,  or  there  will  be  almost  endless  strife 
and  divisions."  This  is  enough  to  show  that  these  men  ought 
never  to  have  been  connected  with  us. 

On  the  subject  of  church  order  and  discipline,  to  strengthen 
this  conviction,  we  single  out  but  one  point,  and  that  in  the  fol- 
lowing terms,  p.  217  :  "As  regards  the  most  eligible  organiza- 
tions for  evangelizing  our  nation  and  the  \v orld,  om  preferences 
are  generally  in  favour  of  that  type  of  evangelism,  which  seeks 
the  attainment  of  its  object  by  voluntary  societies,  composed  of 
members  of  various  denominations."  This  is  clear  and  candid, 
but  conclusive  against  themselves  ;  for  nothing  can  be  conceived 
of,  more  preposterous  than  such  a  declaration  coming  from  a 
sworn  Presbyterian  minister.  "  Voluntary  societies,  composed 
of  members  of  various  denominations  !"  This  is  voluntary  and 
perfect  confusion.  As  an  exemplification  of  it,  we  may  state, 
that  in  the  greatest  agitation  that  almost  ever  occurred  in  the 
Presbyterian  Church,  and  as  the  chief  procuring  cause  of  it. 
Dr.  Judd  states  this  very  predilection  for  voluntary  societies. 
In  reference  to  the  memorable  Pittsburgh  struggle  of  1836,  p. 
101,  he  says  :  "  The  advocates  for  conducting  all  the  benevolent 
operations  of  the  church,  by  boards  under  ecclesiastical  super- 
vision, increased  in  number,  and  their  policy  became  more  and 
more  exclusive  and  intolerant.  Hence  those  who  were,  from 
principle,  in  favour  of  voluntary  societies,  were  laid  under  the 
necessity  of  either  abandoning  their  conscientious  preferences,  or 
of  defending  them.  A  sense  of  duty  constrained  them  to  adopt 
the  latter  course."  Here  they  assert  that  they*  were  conscien- 
tious in  endeavouring  to  revolutionize  the  church. 

The  reflecting  reader  will  observe,  that  the  term  voluntary,  re- 
pudiates all  ecclesiastical  supervision  or  control ;  denies  and  re- 
jects all  responsibility  to  the  church,  is  a  complete  substitution  for 
it.  A  society  of  this  class  is  a  mere  secular  or  political  engine, 
self-constituted  and  self-governed. 

On  the  contrary,  the  whole  organization  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church  is  republican,  and  in  its  action,  conducted  upon  represen- 
tative principles.  She  has  an  admirable  order  of  church  judica- 
tories, rising  gradually  in  power  and  importance,  from  the  ('hurch 
Session  to  the  General  Assembly,  embracing  the  intermediate 


OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED.  311 

Presbytery  and  Synod.  All  these,  are  so  connected  and  com- 
bined, that  under  the  direction  of  the  Assembly,  their  united  influ- 
ence and  zeal  in  any  work  of  benevolence,  in  raising  funds  or  in 
distributing  them,  can  be  drawn  to  a  point  or  diversified  at  pleas- 
ure, by  competent  authority. 

Here  is  perfect  unity,  harmony,  concentration  of  strength  and 
unity  of  action  in  the  whole  church,  in  the  prosecution  of  any  ob- 
ject of  benevolence,  church  extension,  diffusion  of  knowledge,  or 
of  missions.  And  to  accomplish  these  and  other  great  ends,  the 
Presbyterian  body  have  been  laboriously  engaged  for  more  than 
fifty  years,  in  organizing  and  maturing  into  full  vigor,  an  admira- 
ble company  of  ecclesiastical  boards,  to  act  as  her  organs  and 
instruments  in  the  accomplishment  of  her  great  and  momentous 
duties. 

Here  is  then  presented  a  striking  and  decisive  antagonism  in 
church  form  and  church  action;  voluntaryism  against  Presbyte- 
rial  organization ;  the  one  a  political  or  secular  compact,  without 
any  ecclesiastical  feature,  amenability  or  appeal ;  the  latter,  the 
creature  of  the  churches,  established  by  them,  controlled  by  them, 
supplied  with  the  means  of  operation  by  them,  accountable  to 
them  for  every  measure  they  adopt,  instructed  in  regard  to  the 
objects  t^ey  are  to  pursue,  furnished  by  the  voice  of  the  people, 
or  their  representatives  in  the  Assembly,  with  boards  of  missions, 
of  education,  of  publication,  of  church  extension,  as  appropriate 
and  consecrated  organs,  to  be  employed  in  building  up  the  church 
and  securing  the  great  object  of  the  Gospel. 

Now,  we  appeal  to  the  world  and  honestly  ask,  with  what  pro- 
priety or  color  of  excuse,  these  New  School  men  could  come  into 
our  church,  assume  our  common  vows,  without  intending  to  re- 
gard them,  and  insidiously  and  pertinaciously  attempt  to  supplant 
and  demolish  the  whole  organic  structure  of  Presbyterianism,  by 
forcing  upon  us  the  voluntary  principle  or  system,  and  mode  of 
action,  diametrically  opposed  to  that  already  existing  there,  and 
then  complain  of  us  for  maintaining  our  venerable  church  invio- 
late, as  arbitrary,  ultra,  bigoted,  intolerant?  Their  system  can 
no  more  amalgamate  with  ours,  than  oil  with  water.  The  abro- 
gation was,  therefore,  as  Dr.  Alexander  says,  absolutely  indisperr- 
sable  to  the  peace  and  life  of  the  church.  And  the  true  Presby- 
terian orthodox  body  have  reason  to  thank  the  committee  of  the 
New  School  Synod,  for  declaring  through  their  agent.  Dr.  Judd, 
that  their  mind  is  still  the  same  as  before  the  exscision;  'Mhatthe\ 
are  in  favor  of  voluntary  societies!"  We  have  no  doubt  of  the 
fact  as  stated.  They  are  not,  therefore,  Presbyterians  at  all  ; 
they  never  had  an  honest  and  just  standing  in  the  Presbyterian 
Church,  on  account  of  this  as  well  as  other  reasons;  and  with 
their  principles  unchanged,  they  never  can  have  it,  never  ought 


312  OLD    SCHOOL    VI.VDICATKJD. 

!o.  Hence,  our  second  observation  is,  that  since  ilie  same  obsta- 
cles to  union  exist  now  as  before  the  abrogation,  and  will  proba- 
bly continue  to  operate  for  ages  to  come,  there  is  no  prospect  of 
a  harmonious  and  happy  reunion  of  these  parties.  The  New 
School  now  publish  to  the  world,  most  positively,  their  determi- 
nation to  persist  in  their  former  corrupt  theology,  decisive  und 
distracting  policy.  Barnes  and  others,  are  still  publishing  their 
"  false  views,  i|^every  variety  of  form."  Our  principles,  say  they, 
p.  221,  "lay  us  under  obligations  to  do  all  in  our  power  to  give 
increased  efficiency  to  voluntary  societies,  for  the  spread  of  the 
gospel  and  the  conversion  of  the  world.*'  After  all  this,  they  pro- 
ceed to  say :  "  We  had  no  desire  to  interfere  v^ith  their  prefer- 
ences." But,  was  their  opposition  to  the  Assembly's  plan,  of 
transferring  the  Western  Foreign  Missionary  Society,  no  inter- 
ference with  their  preferences'?  How  could  they  establish,  as 
they  laboured  for  many  years  with  their  utmost  povi'er  to  do,  their 
voluntary  plan  of  action  in  our  church,  without  interfering  with 
our  ecclesiastical  boards'?  "Especially,"  they  say,  on  the  same 
page,  "should  we  hold  fast  and  defend  that  feature  of  the  volun- 
tary principle,  which  unites  the  labours  of  Christians,  of  all  de- 
nominations." After  this,  it  is  amusing  to  hear  Dr.  J.,  pp.  218, 
19,  speaking  of  the  "  brethren  of  the  New  Basis,  the  mefuves  of 
the  New  Basis  Assembly,"  &c. 

Surely,  the  New  School  are  well  identified  by  their  name,  the 
novelty  of  their  opinions,  the  youthfulness  of  their  voluntary  crea- 
tions. The  orthodox.  Old  School  church,  which  has  existed  here, 
jUst  as  they  are  now,  in  principle  and  form,  about,  one  hundred 
years,  have  now  become  JVew  Basis  men,  a  jYew  Basis  Assembly ! 

Can  any  thing  be  imagined,  more  repulsive,  than  compromise 
or  re- union  with  the  New  School  body,  while  they  make  no  re- 
nunciation of  their  false  doctrines,  and  declaring  their  fixed  pur- 
pose •'  to  do  all  in  their  power  to  give  increased  efficiency  to  vol- 
untary societies?''^  Such  a  re-union  would  secure  to  the  Presby- 
terian Church  perpetual,  internal  strife,  and  speedily,  either  vio- 
lent separation  or  complete  extinction. 

Dr.  Judd  desires  to  prove  that  the  exscision,  as  he  calls  it,  was 
produced  by  the  operation  or  influence  of  these  voluntary  socie- 
ties. Extending  the  idea  of  these  societies  a  little,  so  as  to  com- 
prehend the  fact,  that  they  were  the  principal  organs  or  channels 
through  which  their  corrupt  theology  was  propagated,  and  their 
church-distracting  operations  carried  on,  and  it  is  true.  The  ortho- 
dox have  avowed,  hundreds  of  times,  that  the  Presbyterian  Church 
could  not  exist,  maintain  its  integrity,  and  attain  the  end  of  its 
being,  if  these  societies  were  permitted  to  continue  and  operate 
within  our  bounds.  The  reason  is  perfectly  obvious.  The  vol- 
untary societies  act  capriciously^  without  church  connexion  or 


OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED.  813 

authority;  are  composed  of  heterogeneous  materiaJs,  thrown  pro- 
n^iscuously  together,  without  regard  to  any  standard  or  model, 
qualification  or  rule.  The  Presbyterian  Church  observes  a  per- 
fectly defined  and  ascertained  law;  is  founded  upon  and  sus- 
tained by  the  sovereign  authority  and  will  of  the  people.  They 
framed  the  system  in  all  its  detail  and  symmetry;  they  speak  and 
act  through  it  by  a  well  digested  pro  rata  representation  in  every 
measure;  they  must  be  appealed  to  and  consulted  for  their  ap- 
proval and  ratification,  when  any  thing  new  is  attempted,  or  old 
found  defective.  Unity,  in  organization  and  action,  was  the  car- 
dinal principle  or  feature,  aimed  at  in  the  Presbyterian  Church  ; 
she  laboured  to  get  clear  and  keep  clear,  of  all  heterogeneous  mix- 
tures; to  maintain  their  own  organic  system  unimpaired,  by  the 
intestine  or  aggressive  influence  of  strangers,  who  know  us  not, 
and  whose  hearts  were  far  away,  set  upon  systems  and  objects 
diametrically  opposed  to  ours. 

Why,  then,  need  Dr.  Judd,  or  any  body  else,  say,  "  hostility  to 
voluntary  societies,  and  a  desire  to  rule  the  church,  were  the  chief 
causes  of  the"  abrogating  or  exscinding  acts?  If  the  orthodox 
were  honest  and  sincere,  how  could  it  be  otherwise?  There  was, 
in  reality,  previously  no  union;  neither  could  there  be,  among 
elements  so  discordant.  They  were,  while  nominally  connected, 
truly  separated.  At  every  public  meeting,  especially  of  the  As- 
sembly, the  line  of  demarcation  was  distinctly  drawn,  as  between 
conflicting  armies.  These  exhibitions  had  become  the  scorn  and 
derision  of  the  world.  Nothing  was  needed  to  break  the  rope  o{ 
sand  which  attached  these  parties  together,  but  a  mere  declara- 
tion. That  declaration  was  uttered  by  the  Assembly  of  1837.  It 
is  called  by  many  hard  names;  but  it  was  a  peace  measure,  in- 
tended to  terminate  strife.  The  New  School  had  been  separating 
themselves  more  and  more,  for  many  years,  from  the  true  church. 
The  Presbyterian  body,  after  waiting,  sufl^ering,  entreating,  all 
ineftectually,  at  last  resolved  to  let  the  New  School  go,  to  take  a 
position  where  they  had  long  been  expect^  to  place  themselves, 
aside  from  the  Presbyterian  body,  with  which  they  possessed  no 
real  sympathy,  or  desire  to  be  amalgamated. 


CHAPTER    XXVI. 

Brief  Summary — Conclusion. 

The  measures  adopted  by  the  General  Assembly  for  the  purifi- 
cation and  safety  of  the  church,  were  not  presented  at  all  as  pu- 


314  OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED. 

iiitive  or  disciplinary.  This  will  appear  from  the  fact  that  no 
charge  was  tabled,  and  all  thought  of  crinninal  process,  or  citation 
to  answer,  was  formally  abandoned,  as  the  minutes  of  the  Assem- 
bly prove.  Even  Mr.  Barnes  himself  attests,  that  "  not  one  of  their 
number  was  accused  or  tried.*     Sermon.  . 

The  following  questions  are  proposed  and  affirmatively  an- 
swered, especially  at  the  ordination  of  gospel  ministers,  viz: 

I.  "  Do  you  sincerely  receioe  and  adopt  the  Confession  of  Faith 
of  this  Church,  as  containing  the  system  of  doctrines  taught  in  the 
Holy  Scriptures  ?" 

II.  "Do  you  approve  of  the  government  and  discipline  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church  in  these  United  Slates  1" 

III.  "  Do  you  promise  subjection  to  your  brethren  in  the  Lord  ?" 

IV.  "Do  you  promise  to  be  zealous  and  faithful  in  maintaining 
the  truths  of  the  gospel,  and  the  purity  and  peace  of  the  church, 
whatever  persecutiorj  or  opposition  may  arise  unto  you,  on  that 
account?" 

This  soleinn  contract  with,  and  pledge  to,  the  church,  in  heaven 
and  upon  earth,  is  publicly  made  before  many  witnesses — to  re- 
ceive and  adopt  lh§  Confession  of  Fafth  as  it  stands,  to  support 
the  government  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  as  it  is,  to  be  zealous 
and  faithful  in  maintaining  the  truths  of  the  gospel,  the  puiiti/ 
and  peace  of  the  church,  whatever  may  oppose,  and  that  under 
the  guidance  of  the  assumed  standards  and  control  of  the  breth- 
ren. Now,  the  simple  inquiry  is,  have  the  New  School  men 
been  true  and  faithful  to  their  promises?  On  the  Contrary,  have 
they  not  habitually  warred  against  every  interest  they  covenanted 
to  support?  Remonstrances  and  entreaties,  multiplied  upon  them, 
to  check  their  violence,  have  only  increased  it.  The  church  had 
a  right  to  expect  in  them  friends  and  auxiliaries,  but  she  has 
found  them  to  be  inveterate  and  implacable  opposers.  All  the 
talents  and  industry,  and  art  and  power,  at  their  disposal,  have 
been  employed  against  her.  They  bound  themselves  to  maintain 
the  purity  and  peace  Of  the  church,  but,  through  all  her  bounds, 
they  have  created  a  disgusting  scene  of  strife  and  confusion. 
Combinations  and  conspiracies  against  our  church,  schemes  of 
change  and  subversion,  exhibitions  of  disaffection  and  hostility  to 
our  standards  and  ecclesiastical  order,  have  been  for  many  years 
a  constant  and  affecting  spectacle  throughout  the  land,  causing 
the  ways  of  Zion  to  mourn,  and  her  friends  to  wear  sackcloth 
and  weep.  While  we  mourn  over  all  the  injuries  inflicted  upon 
the  church,  and  feel  that  we  may  justly  exclaim,  in  reference  to 
most  of  the  prime  truths  of  the  gospel,  with  Mary  Magdalene,  to 

*  Strictly  speakinjs,  there  had  been  a  few  attempts  to  try  unsound  min- 
isters, but  the  state  of  the  church  prevented  their  conviction.  Barnes,  Duf- 
field,  and  Bee  ;her,  are  the  men  here  referred  to. 


OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED.  315 

Peter  and  the  other  disciple  in  relation  to  the  body  of  Jesus, 
"They  have  taken  away  the  Lord  out  of  the  sepulchre,  and  we 
know  not  where  they  have  laid  him,"  we  offer  neither  crinnination 
nor  revenge,  but  refer  them,  for  the  settlement  of  their  accounts, 
to  the  just  decisions  of  an  indignant  world  and  offended  God. 

Now,  if  any  man  asks  the  members  of  the  orthodox  body,  why 
they  declared  the  four  Synods  no  longer  belonging  to  the  Presby- 
terian Church,  and  virtually  excluded  them  from  our  communion, 
we  answer,  in  a  brief  recapitulation  : 

I.  Because,  as  has  been  proved  in  the  preceding  sheets,  they 
came  into  our  body  on  the  Plan  of  Union  of  1801,  and  so  stood 
upon  a  foundation  which  was  unconstitutional  in  its  nature,  in- 
consistent and  irreconcilable  with  the  elementary  principles,  real 
spirit,  and  true  letter  of  our  plan  of  ecclesiastical  organization 
and  government.  The  Assembly  of  1837,  did,  therefore,  after 
long  and  solemn  consideration,  abrogate  and  expunge  that  un- 
con^litulional  Plan  of  Union,  on  which  these  Synods  were  stand- 
ing, and,  of  course,  their  connexion  with  the  orthodox  body  ceased. 

II.  The  Assembly  of  1837  were  induced  to  pass  this  act  of  ab- 
rogation, by  the  fact,  which  we  have  most  abundantly  shown  in 
the  preceding  pages,  that  from  the  Plan  of  Union,  multitudes  of 
derangements  and  confusions,  injurious  to  the  peace  and  pros- 
perity of  the  church,  inundated  the  new  settlements,  and  gradu^ 
ally  spread  over  the  whole  land,  introducing  disorder,  and  threat- 
enini?  entire  dissolution  to  the  church,  under  circunjstances  too 
flagrant  to  be  any  longer  tolerated.  The  alternative  was  then 
strongly  presented,  either  to  abandon  the  church  to  her  foes, 
which  was  seriously  contemplated  by  some  of  her  best  members, 
or  to  deliver  her  from  her  sufferings  and  apprehensions,  by  cut- 
ting off"  her  intestine  destroyers.  The  most  lawful  and  constitu- 
tional, most  harmonious  and  feasible  process  for  accomplishing 
this  object,  was  reluctantly  embraced,  as  a  last  resort,  to  redeem 
the  church,  by  the  discharge  of  a  high  and  solemn  duty  to  God. 
to  his  people  and  their  posterity,  in  exscinding  the  offending 
members. 

III.  The  third  great  cause  of  this  decision,  and  ground  of  its 
vindication,  was  the  fact,  that  the  New  School  having  formed  a 
plan  to  revolutionize  the  church,  had  passed  such  acts,  formed 
such  combinations,  pursued  such  a  system  of  action,  had  so  far 
multiplied  their  numbers  and  means,  had  so  greatly  augmented, 
ramified,  and  strengthened  their  corrupting  influences,  by  virtue 
of  their  overgrown  and  dangerous  power,  that  the  friends  of  Zion 
clearly  saw  her  imminent  peril,^  and  the  abrogation  as  her  only 
remedy.  From  overt  acts  com-mitted  in  her  public  assemblies, 
and  numerous  developments  constructive  and  confirmatory  ac- 
companying, it  became  evident  that  her  members,  her  resources. 


316  OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED. 

her  boards,  her  juJicatories,  her  formularies,  her  whole  character, 
substance,  policy,  and  destiny*  were  marked  out  by  the  invading 
foe  as  objects  of  their  arbitrary  control  or  sweeping  ra'paciiy.  In 
such  circumstances,  presented  in  full  detail,  with  appropriate  evi- 
dence, in  what  precedes,  their  course  of  action  was  distinctly 
drawn,  and  a  voice  from  heaven  seemed  to  say  to  the  uncontam- 
inated,  though  oppressed  church  of  Jesus,  "this  is  the  way — walk 
ye  in  it !" 

IV.  The  fowth  and  principal  ground  upon  which  we  vindicate 
the  great  relief  measure  of  1837,  is  the  introduction,  by  the  New 
School,  of  false  doctrines  upon  almost  every  cardinal  point  of 
Christianity. 

For  the  evidence  of  this  statement,  we  refer  ihe  inquirer  to  the 
contrast  in  the  pages  preceding.  The  statement  is  brief,  and  from 
it  there  is  no  appeal.  The  adversaries  of  our  church  and  of  God's 
truth,  have  unblushingly  published  their  obliquity  and  iheir  shame, 
to  the  whole  world.  We  take  their  own  record,  and  place  it  in 
contrast  with  our  Confession  of  Faith.  It  there  stands,  as  a  per- 
petual monument  of  their  unsoundness  in  the  faith.  This  is  enough  I 

It  could  not  rationally  be  expected,  that  such  a  company  of 
men  as  compose  the  orthodox  body  in  the  Presbyterian  Church, 
realizing  their  sacred  obligations  and  responsibility,  with  adequate 
power  in  their  hands,  should  or  would  stand  idly  by  and  see  the 
enemy  sowing  tares,  broadcast,  in  every  field,  without  an  effort 
to  expel  thejpn,  and  preserve  the  soil  pure^  lo  receive  from  their 
own  hands,  or  those  of  their  successors,  the  uncorrupted  seed  of 
God's  word. 

The  decisive  7-eUef  measure,  of  the  General  Assembly  of  1837, 
is  written  in  prominent  and  ineraseable  letters,  and  commences  a 
new  era  in  the  history  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  in  these  United 
States.  The  substance  of  this  record  will  be  recited  by  children 
and  youth  of  coming  generations;  saints  of  both  sexes  and  of  all 
ages,  will  celebrate  that  act  with  triumph,  as  an  escape  for  the 
church  from  bondage  and  oppression,  worse  than  Egyplain  ;  it 
will  be  "said  and  sung"  by  sacred  bards,  rehearsed  by  poets  and 
orators,  in  strains  more  thrilling  than  those  which  celebrate  the 
emancipation  of  the  mother  church  in  Scotland,  and  published  by 
history  and  by  fame  to  an  admiring  world,  till  the  end  of  time. 


OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED.  317 


CHAPTER   XXVII. 

Chief  Justice  Gibson  delivered   the  following  opinion  of  the 
court: 

To  extricate  the  question  from  the  multifarious  mass  of  irrele- 
vant matter  in  which  it  is  enclosed,  we  must,  in  the  first  place, 
ascertain  the  specific  character  of  the  General  Assembly,  and  the 
lelation  it  bears  to  the  corporation,  which  is  the  immediate  sub- 
ject of  our  cognizance.  This  Assembly  has  been  called  a  quasi 
corporation,  of  which  it  has  not  a  feature.  A  quasi  corporation 
has  capacity  to  sue  and  be  sued,  as  an  artificial  person,  whi<^h 
the  Assembly  has  not.  It  is  also  established  by  law,  which  the 
Assembly  is  not.  Neither  is  the  Assembly  a  particular  order,  or 
rank,  in  the  corporation,  though  the  latter  was  created  for  its  con- 
venience; such,  for  instance,  as  the  shareholflers  of  a  bank,  or 
joint  stock  company,  who  are  an  integrant  part  of  the  body-  It 
is  a  segregated  association,  which,  though  it  is  the  reproductive 
organ  of  corporate  succession,  is  not  itself  a  member  of  the  body, 
and  in  that  respect,  it  is  anomalous.  Having  no  corporate  quah- 
ty  in  itself,  it  is  not  a  subject  of  our  corrective  jurisdiction,  or  of 
our  scrutiny,  farther  than  to  ascertain  its  organic  structure,  may 
bear  on  the  question  of  its  personal  identity  or  individuality.  By 
the  charter  of  the  corporation,  of  which  it  is  the  handmaid  and 
nurse,  it  has  a  limited  capacity  to  create  vacancies  in  it,  and  an 
unlimited  power  over  the  power  and  manner  of  choice  in  filling 
them.  It  would  be  sufficient  for  the  civil  tribunals,  therefore, 
that  the  assembled  commissioners  had  constituted  an  actual  body, 
and  that  it  had  made  its  appointment  in  its  own  way,  without  re- 
gard to  its  fairness,  in  respect  to  its  members;  with  this  limita- 
tion, however,  that  it  had  the  assent  of  the  constitutional  majori- 
ty, of  which  the  official  act  of  authentication  would  be,  at  least, 
prima  facie  evidence.  It  would  be  to  the  legality  of  the  choice, 
that  the  majority  had  expelled  the  minority,  provided  a  majority 
of  the  whole  body  concurred  in  the  choice.  This  may  be  safely 
predicated  of  an  undivided  Assembly,  and  it  would  be  an  uner- 
ring test  in  the  case  of  a  division,  could  a  quorum  not  be  consti- 
tuted of  less  than  such  a  majority;  but  unfortunately,  a  quorum 
of  the  General  Assembly  may  be  constituted  of  a  very  small  mi- 
nority, so  that  two,  or  even  more  distinct  parts,  may  have  all  the 
external  organs  of  legitimate  existence.  Hence,  where,  as  in  this 
instance,  the  members  have  formed  themselves  into  separate 
bodies,  numerically  sufficient  for  corporate  capacity  and  organic 
action,  it  becomes  necessary  to  ascertain  how  far  either  of  them 
was  formed,  in  obedience  to  the  conventional  law  of  the  associa- 
tion, which  for  that  purpose  only,  is  to  be  treated  as  a  rule  of  civil 


318  OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED. 

obligatioii.  The  division  which  for  purposes  of  designation,  it  is 
convenient  to  call  the  Old  School  party,  was  certainly  organized 
in  obedience  to  the  established  order;  and,  to  legitimate  the  sepa- 
rate organization  of  its  rival  in  contravention,  as  it  certainly  was, 
of  every  thing  like  precedent,  would  require  the  presentation  of  a 
very  urgent  emergency.  At  the  stated  time  and  place  for  the 
opening  of  the  session,  the  parties  assembled  without  any  ostensi- 
ble division ;  and  when  the  organization  of  the  whole  had  pro- 
ceeded to  a  certain  point,  by  the  instrumentality  of  the  moderator 
of  the  preceding  session,  who,  for  that  purpose,  was  the  constitu- 
tional organ,  a  provisional  moderator  was  suddenly  chosen,  by  a 
minority  ot  those  who  could  be  entitled  to  vote,  including  the  ex- 
scinded commissioners.  The  question  on  the  motion  to  elect  was 
put,  not  by  the  chair,  but  by  the  mover  himself;  after  which  the 
receding  party  elected  a  permanent  moderator  and  immediately 
withdrew,  leaving* the  other  party  to  finish  its  process  of  organi- 
zation, by  the  choice  of  its  moderator  for  the  session. 

In  justification  of  this  apparent  irregularity,  it  is  urged  that  the 
constitutional  moderator  had  refused  an  appeal  to  the  commis- 
sioners in  attendance,  from  his  decision,  which  had  excluded 
Irom  the  roll  the  names  of  certain  commissioners,  who  had  been 
unconstitutionally  severed,  as  it  is  alleged,  from  the  Presbyterian 
•  connexion,  by  a  vote  of  the  preceding  session.  It  is  conceded  by 
the  argument,  that  if  the  Synods,  with  the  dependent  Presbyteries 
by  which  those  commissioners  were  sent,  had  been  constitution- 
ally dissolved,  the  motion  was  one  which  the  moderator  was  not 
bound  to  put,  or  the  commissioners  to  notice;  and  that  whatever 
implication  of  assent  to  the  decision  which  ensued,  might  other- 
wise be  deduced  from  the  silence  of  those  who  refused  to  speak 
out,  about  which,  it  will  be  necessary  to  say  something  in  the  se- 
(}uel,  there  was  no  room  for  any  such  implication  in  the  particu- 
lar instance.  It  would  follow  also,  that  there  was  no  pretence 
for  the  deposal  of  the  moderator,  if  indeed  such  a  thing  could  be 
legitimated  by  any  circumstances,  for  refusing  an  appeal  from  his 
exclusion  of  those  who  had  not  color  of  title,  and  consequently, 
that  what  else  might  be  reform,  would  be  revolution.  And  this 
leads  to  an  inquiry  into  the  constitutionality  of  the  act  of  exscision. 

The  sentence  of  exscision,  as  it  has  been  called,  was  nothing 
else  than  an  ordinance  of  dissolution.  It  bore,  that  the  Synods  in 
question,  having  been  formed  and  attached  to  the  body  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church,  under  and  in  execution  of  the  Plan  of 
Union,  be^  and  are  hereby  declared  to  be,  out  of  the  connexion  of 
the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States  of  America ;  and 
ihat  they  are  not,  in  form  or  in  fact,  an  integral  portion  of  said 
church.  Now,  "it  will  not  be  said,  that  if  the  dissolved  Synods 
had  no  other  basis  than  the  Plan  of  Union,  they  did  not  necessa-^ 


OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED.  31^ 

rily  fall  along  with  it,  and*lt  is  not  pretended  that  the  Assembly    ' 
was  incompetent  to  repeal  the  union  prospectively,  but  it  is  con- 
tended that  the  repeal  could   not  impair  right^of  membership 
which  had  grown  up  under  it.  On  the  other  hand,  it  is  contended, 
that  the  Plan  of  Union  was  unconstitutional  and  void  from  the 
beginning,  because  it  was  not  submitted  to  the  Presbyteries   for 
their  sanction;  and  that  no  right  of  membership  could  spring 
from  it.     But,  viewed  not  as  a  constitutional  regulation,  which 
implies  permanency  of  duration,  but  as  a  temporary  expedient,  it 
acquired  the  force  of  a  law  without  the  ratification  of  those  bo- 
dies.    It  was  evidently  not  intended  to  be  permanent,  and  it,  con- 
sequently, was   constitutionally  enacted   and   constitutionally  re- 
pealed by  an  ordinary  act  of  legislation  ;  and  those  Synods  which 
had  their  root  in  it,  could   not  be  expected  to  survive  it.     There 
never  was  a  design  to  attempt  an  amalgamation  of  ecclesiastical 
principles,  which  are  as  immiscible  as  water  and  oil;  much  less 
to  effect  a  commixture  of  them,  only  at  particular  geographical 
points.     Such  an  attempt  would  have  compromised  a  principle 
at  the  very  root  of  Presbyterial  government,  which  requires  that 
the  officers  of  the  church  be  set  apart  by  special  ordination  for 
the  work.     Now,  the  character  of  the  Plan  is  palpable,  not  only 
in  its  title  and  provisions,  but  in  the  minute  of  its  introduction  into 
the  Assembly.     We  find  in  the  proceedings  of  1801,  p.  256,  that 
a  committee  was  raised  to  "consider  and  digest  a  plan  of  go- 
vernment for  the  churches  in  the  New  Settlements,  agreeably  to 
the  proposal  of  the  General  Association  of  Connecticut,"  an€l  that 
the  plan  adopted  in  conformity  to  its  report,  is  called  "  A  Plan  of 
Union  for  the  New  Settlements."     The  avowed  object  of  it  was 
to  prevent  alienation,  in  other  words,  the  affiliation  of  Presbyte- 
rians in  other  churches,  by  suffering  those  who  were  yet  too  few 
and  too  poor  for  the  maintenance  of  a  minister,  temporarily  to 
call  to  their  assistance,  the  members  of  a  sect  who  differed  from 
them,  in  principles,  not  of  faith,  but  of  ecclesiastical  government. 
To  that  end,  Presbyterians  were  suffered  to  preach  to  Congrega- 
tional Churches,  while  Presbyterian  Churches  were  suffered  to 
settle  Congregational  ministers;  and  mixed  congregations  were 
allowed  to  settle  a  Presbyterian  or  Congregational  minister,  at 
.  their  election,  but  under  a  plan  of  government  and  discipline 
adapted  to  the  circumstances.     Surely  this  was  not  intended  to 
outlast  the  inability  of  the  respective  sects  to  provide  separately 
for  themselves,  or  to  perpetuate  the  innovations  on   Presbyterial 
government,  which  it  was  calculated  to  produce.     It  was  ob- 
viously a  missionary  arrangement  from  the  first;  and  those  who 
built  up  Presbyteries  and  Synods  on  the  basis  of  if,  had  no  reason 
to  expect  that  their  structure  would  survive  it,  or  that  Congrega- 
tionalists  might,  by  force  of  it,  gain  a  foothold  in  the  Presbyterian 


320  OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED. 

Church,  despite  of  Presbyterial  discipline.  They  embraced  it 
with  all  its  defeasable  properties  plainly  put  before  them,  and  the 
power  which  •bnstiiuted  it^  might  fairly  repeal  it,  and  dissolve 
the  bodies  that  had  grown  out  of  it,  whenever  the  good  of  the 
church  should  seem  to  require  it. 

Could  the  Synods,  however,  be  dissolved  by  a  legislative  act? 
J  know  not  hVjw  they  could  have  been  legitimately  dissolved  by 
any  other.  The  Assembly  is  a  homogeneous  body,  uniting  in  it- 
self, without  separation  of  parts,  the  legislative,  executive,  and 
judicial  functions  of  the  government;  and  its  acts  are  referable  to 
ihe  one  or  the  other  of  them,  according  to  the  capacity  in  which 
it  sat  when  they  were  performed.  Now,  had  the  exscinded  Sy- 
nods been  cut  off  by  a  judicial  sentence  without  hearing  or  notice, 
tlie  act  would  have  been  contrary  to  the  cardinal  principles  of 
natural  justice,  and  consequently  void.  But  though  it  was  at  first 
resolved  to  proceed  judicially,  the  measure  was  abandoned,  prob- 
ably because  it  came  to  be  perceived  that  the  Synods  had  com- 
mitted no  offence. 

A  glance  at  the  Plan  of  Union  is  enough  to  convince  us  that 
the  disorder  had  come  in  with  the  sanction  of  the  Assembly  itself. 
The  first  article  directed  missionaries,  (ihe  word  is  significant)  to 
the  New  Settlements,  to  promote  a  good  understanding  betwixt 
the  kindred  sects.  The  second  and  third  permitted  a  Presbyterian 
congregation  to  settle  a  Congregational  minister,  ar  a  Presbyterian 
minister  to  be  settled  by  a  Congregational  Church;  but  these  pro- 
vide^ for  no  recognition  of  the  people  in  charge  as  a  part  of  the  Pres- 
byterian body — at  least  they  gave  them  no  representation  in  its  go- 
vernment. But  the  fourth  allowed  a  mixed  congregation  to  settle  a 
minister  of  either  denomination,  and  committed  the  government  of 
it  to  a  standing  committee,  but  with  a  right  to  appeal  to  the  body  of 
male  communicants,  if  the  appellant  were  a  Congregationalist,  or 
to  the  Presbytery,  if  he  were  a  Presbyterian.  Now,  it  is  evident, 
that  the  Assembly  designed  that  every  such  congregation  should 
belong  to  a  Presbytery,  as  an  integrant  part  of  it,  for  if  its  minis- 
ter were  a  Congregationalist,  in  no  way  connected  with  the  Pres- 
byterian Church,  it  would  be  impossible  to  refer  the  appellate 
jurisdiction  to  any  Presbytery  in  particular.  This  alone  would 
show,  that  it  was  designed  to  place  such  a  congregation  in  eccle- 
siastical connexion  with  the  Presbytery  of  the  district ;  but  this  is 
not  all.  It  was  expressly  provided,  in  conclusion,  that  if  the  said 
standing  committee  of  any  church  shall  depute  one  of  themselves 
to  attend  the  Presbytery,  he  may  have  the  same  right  "  to  sit  and 
act  in  the  Presbytery,  as  a  ruling  elder  in  the  Presbyterian 
Church."  For  what  purpoge,  if  the  congregation  were  not  in 
Presbyterial  fellowship? 

It  is  said,  that  this  jus  representationis  was  predicated  of  the 


OLD    SCHOOL    VliVDlCATED.  321 

appeal,  precedently  mentioned,  and  that  the  exercise  of  it  was 
to  be  restrained  to  the  trial  of  it.  The  words,  however,  were 
predicated  without  restriction,  and  an  imphed  Umitation  of  their 
meaning  would  impute  to  the  Assembly  the  injustice  of  allow- 
ing a  party  to  sit  in  his  own  cause,  by  introducing  into  the 
composition  of  the  appellate  court,  a  part  of  the  subordinate 
one.  That  such  an  implication  would  be  inconsistent  with  the 
temper  displayed  by  the  Assembly,  on  other  occasions,  is  proved 
by  the  order  which  it  took  as  early  as  1791,  in  the  case  of  ari' 
appeal  from  the  sentence  of  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia,  whose 
members  it  prevented  from  voting  on  the  question,  (Assembly 
Digest,  p.  332)  as  well  as  by  its  general  provision,  "that  mem- 
bers of  a  judicatory  may  not  vote  in  a  superior  judicatory,  on  a 
question  of  approving  or  disapproving  their  records."  Judd, 
p.  333. 

The  principle  has  since  become  a  rule  of  the  constitution,  as 
appears  by  the  book  of  discipline,  chapter  vii.,  sec.  3,  paragraph 
12.  As  the  representations  of  those  anomalous  congregations 
could  not,  therefore,  sit  in  judgment  on  their  own  controversies, 
it  is  pretty  clear  that  it  was  intended  they  should  be  represented 
generally,  else  they  could  not  be  represented  at  all  in  the  coun- 
cils of  the  church,  by  those  who  might  be  Presbyterians;  and 
that  to  effect  it,  the  principles  of  Presbyteric^ordination  was  to 
be  relaxed,  as  regards  both  the  ministry  an* eldership  ;  and  it 
is  equally  clear,  that  had  the  Synods  been  cited  to  answer  for 
the  consequent  relaxation,  as  an  offence,  they  might  have  tri- 
umphantly appeared  at  the  bar  of  the  Assembly,  with  the  Plan 
of  Union  in  their  hand.  That  body,  however,  resorted  to  the 
only  constitutional  remedy  in  its  power;  it  fell  back,  so  to 
speak  on  its  legislative  jurisdiction,  in  the  exercise  of  which  the 
Synods  were  competently  represented  and  heard  by  their  com- 
missioners. 

Now,  the  apparent  injustice  of  the  measure  arises  from  the 
contemplation  of  it  as  a  judicial  sentence,  pronounced  against 
persons  who  were  neither  cited  nor  heard,  which  it  evidently 
was  not.  Even  as  a  legislative  act,  it  may  have  been  a  hard 
one,  though  certainly  constitutional  and  strictly  just.  It  wa» 
impossible  to  eradicate  the  disorder  by  any  thing  less  than  a 
dissolution  of  those  bodies,  with  whose  existence  its  roots  were 
so  entwined  as  to  be  inseparable  from  it,  leaving  their  elements 
to  form  new  and  less  heterogeneous  combinations.  Though 
deprived  of  Presbyterial  organization,  the  Presbyterial  parts 
were  not  excluded  from  the  church,  provision  being  made  for 
them,  by  allowing  them  to  attach  themselves  to  the  nearest 
Presbytery. 

It  is  said,  there  is  not  sufficient  evidence  to  establish  the  fact, 

V 


322  OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED. 

that  the  exscinded  Synods  had  been  actually  constituted  on  the 
Plan  of  Union,  in  order  to  have  given  the  Assembly,  even  leg- 
islative jurisdiction.  The  testimony,  however,  of  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Squier  shows,  that  in  some  of  the  three  which  were  within  the 
state  of  New  i  ork,  congregations  were  sometimes  constituted 
without  elders  ;  and  the  Synod  of  the  Western  Reserve,  when 
charged  with  delinquency  on  that  head,  instead  of  denying  the 
fact,  promptly  pointed  to  the  Plan  of  Union  for  its  justification. 
But  what  matters  it,  whether  the  fact  were  actually  what  the 
Assembly  supposed  it  to  be  ?  If  that  body  proceeded  in  good 
faith,  the  validity  of  its  enactment  cannot  depend  on  the  just- 
ness of  its  conclusion.  We  have,  as  already  remarked,  no  au- 
thority to  rejudge  its  judgments,  on  their  merits;  and  this  prin- 
ciple was  asserted  with  conclusive  force  by  the  presiding  judge, 
who  tried  the  cause.  Upon  an  objection,  made  to  an  inquiry 
into  the  composition  of  the  Presbytery  of  Medina,  it  was  ruled 
that,  "with  the  proceedings  of  1837,  (the  act  of  exscision)  we 
have  nothing  to  d'o.  We  are  to  determine  only  what  was  done, 
the  reasons  of  those  who  did  it  are  immaterial.  If  the  acts 
complained  of  were  within  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Assembly, 
their  decision  must  be  final,  though  they  decided  wrong."  This 
was  predicted  of  judicial  jurisdiction.  But  the  principle  is  ne- 
cessarily as  applicable  to  jurisdiction  for  purposes  of  legislation. 
I  cite  the  passage,^owever,  to  show  that  after  a  successful  re- 
sistance to  the  introduction  of  evidence  of  the  fact,  it  lies  not 
with  the  relators  to  allege  the  want  of  it.  If  then,  the  Synods 
in  question  were  constitutionally  dissolved,  the  Presbyteries  of 
which  they  had  been  composed  were  at  least,  for  purposes  of 
representation,  dissolved  along  with  them,  for  no  Presbytery 
can  be  in  connexion  with  the  General  Assembly,  unless  it  be  at 
the  same  time  subordinate  to  a  Synod,  also  in  connexion  with 
it,  because  an  appeal  from  its  judgment  can  reach  the  tribunal 
of  the  last  resort,  only  through  that  channel.  It  is  immaterial 
that  the  Presbyteries  are  the  electors ;  a  Synod  is  a  part  of  the 
machinery  which  is  essential  to  the  existence  of  every  branch 
of  the  church.  It  appears,  therefore,  that  the  commissioners 
from  the  exscinded  Synods  were  not  entitled  to  seats  in  the  As- 
sembly, and  that  their  names  were  properly  excluded  from  the 
roll. 

The  inquiry  might  be  rested  here,  for  if  there  were  no  color 
of  right  in  them,  there  was  no  color  of  right  in  the  adversary 
proceedings,  which  were  founded  on  their  exclusion.  But  even 
if  their  title  were  clear,  the  refusal  of  an  appeal  from  the  deci- 
sion of  the  moderator,  would  be  no  just  ground  for  the  degra- 
dation of  the  officer,  at  the  call  of  a  minority,  nor  could  it  im- 
pose upon  the  majority  an  obligation  to  vote  on  a  question,  p-ut 


OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED.  323 

unofficially  and  out  of  the  usual  course.  To  all  questions  put 
by  the  established  organ,  it  is  the  duty  of  every  member  to  re- 
spond, or  be  counted  with  the  greater  number,  because  he  is 
supposed  to  have  assented  beforehand  to  the  result  of  the  pro- 
cess, pre-established  to  ascertain  the  general  will ;  but  the  rule 
of  implied  assent  is  certainly  inapplicable,  to  a  measure  which, 
when  justifiable  even  by  extreme  necessity,  is  essentially  revo- 
lutionary, and  based  on  no  pre-established  process  of  ascertain- 
ing, whatever. 

To  apply  it  to  an  extreme  oase  of  inorganic  action,  as  was 
done  here,  might  work  the  degradation  of  any  presiding  ofiicer 
in  our  legislative  halls,  by  the  motion  and  actual  vote  of  a  sin- 
gle member,  sustained  by  the  constructive  votes  of  all  the  rest; 
and  though  such  an  enterprise  may  never  be  attempted,  it 
shows  the  danger  of  resorting  to  a  conventional  rule,  when  the 
body  is  to  be  resolved  into  its  original  elements,  and  its  rules 
and  conventions  to  be  superseded  by  the  very  motion.  For 
this  reason,  the  choice  of  a  moderator  to  supplant  the  officer  in 
the  chair,  even  if  he  were  removable  at  the  pleasure  of  the 
commissioners,  would  seem  to  have  been  unconstitutional. 

But  he  was  not  removable  by  them,  because  he  had  not  de- 
rived his  office  from  them ;  nor  was  he  answerable  to  them  for 
the  use  of  the  power.  He  was  not  their  moderator ;  he  was 
the  mechanical  instrument  of  their  organization ;  and  till  that 
was  accomplished,  they  were  subject  to  his  rule,  not  he  to 
theirs.  They  were  chosen  by  the  authority  of  his  mandate, 
and  with  the  power  of  self-organization  only  in  the  event  of 
his  absence,  at  the  opening  of  the  session.  Corporally  present, 
but  refusing  to  perform  his  function,  he  might  be  deemed  con- 
structively absent,  for  constitutional  purposes,  insomuch  that 
the  commissioners  might  proceed  to  the  choice  of  a  substitute 
without  him ;  but  not  if  he  had  entered  on  the  performance  of 
that  task ;  and  the  reason  is,  that  the  decision  of  such  questions 
as  were  prematurely  pressed  here,  is  proper  for  the  decision  of 
the  body,  when  prepared  for  organization,  which  it  cannot  be 
before  it  is  fully  constituted  and  under  the  presidency  of  its 
own  moderator ;  the  moderator  of  the  preceding  session  being 
functus  officiis.  There  can  be  no  occasion  for  its  action  sooner, 
for  though  the  commissioners  are  necessarily  called  upon  to 
vote  for  their  moderator,  their  action  is  not  organic,  but  indi- 
vidual. Dr.  Mason's  motion  and  appeal,  though  the  clerk  had 
reported  the  roll,  were  premature  ;  for  though  it  is  declared  in 
the  twelfth  chapter  of  the  Form  of  Government,  that  no  com- 
missioner shall  deliberate  or  vote,  before  his  name  shall  have 
been  enrolled,  it  follows  not  that  the  capacity  consummated  by 
enrollment  was  expected  to  be  exercised  during  any  part  of 


324  OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED. 

the  process  of  organization,  but  the  choice  of  a  moderator  ;  and 
moreover,  the  provision  may  have  been  intended  for  the  case 
of  a  commissioner  appearing  for  the  first  time,  when  the  house 
was  constituted. 

Many  instances  may  doubtless  be  found  among  the  minutes, 
of  motions  entertained  previously ;  for  our  public  bodies, 
whether  legislative  or  judicial,  secular  or  ecclesiastical,  are  too 
prone  to  forget  the  golden  precept,  "  Let  all  things  be  done 
decently  and  in  order."  But  these  are  merely  instances  of 
irregularity,  wliich  have  passed  sub  selentio,  and  which  cannot 
change  a  rule  of  positive  enactment.  It  seems,  then,  that  an 
appeal  from  the  decision  of  the  moderator  did  not  lie,  and  that 
he  incurred  no  penalty  by  the  disallowance  of  it.  The  title  of 
the  exscinded  commissioners,  could  be  determined  only  by  the 
action  of  the  house,  which  could  not  be  had.  before  its  organi- 
zation were  complete  ;  and,  in  the  mean  time,  he  was  bound, 
as  the  executive  instrument  of  the  preceding  Assembly,  to  put 
its  ordinance  into  execution ;  for  to  the  actual  Assembly,  and 
not  to  the  moderator  of  the  preceding  one,  it  belonged  to  re- 
peal it. 

It  would  be  decisive,  that  the  motion,  as  it  was  proposed, 
purported  not  to  be,  in  fact,  a  question  of  degradation  for  the 
disallowance  of  an  appeal,  but  one  of  new  and  independent 
organization.  It  was  ostensibly,  as  well  as  actually,  a  measure 
of  transcendental  power,  whose  purpose  was,  to  treat  the  ordi- 
nance of  the  preceding  Assembly  as  a  imllity,  and  its  moderator 
as  a  nonentity.  It  had  been  prepared  for  the  event,  avowedly 
before  the  meeting.  The  witnesses  concur,  that  it  was  pro- 
pounded as  a  measure  of  original  organization,  transcending  the 
customary  order ;  and  not  as  a  recourse  to  the  ultima  ratio,  for 
a  specific  violation  of  it.  The  ground  of  the  motion,  as  it  was 
opened  by  the  mover,  was  not  the  disallowance  of  an  appeal, 
which  alone  could  afford  a  pretext  of  forfeiture,  but  the  fact  of 
exclusion.  To  affect  silent  members  with  an  implication  of  as- 
sent, however,  the  ground  of  the  motion  and  the  nature  of  the 
question  must  be  so  explicitly  put  before  them,  as  to  prevent 
misconception  or  mistake  ;  and  the  remarks  that  heralded  the 
question,  in  this  instance,  pointed  at,  not  a  removal  of  the  pre- 
siding incumbent,  but  a  separate  organization,  to  be  accom- 
plished, with  the  least  practicable  interruption  of  the  business 
m  hand;  and  if  they  indicated  any  thing  else,  they  were  de- 
ceptive. The  measure  was  proposed,  not  as  that  of  the  body, 
but  as  the  measure  of  a  party ;  and  the  cause  assigned  for  not 
having  proposed  it  elsewhere,  was,  that  individuals  of  the  party 
had  been  instructed  by  counsel,  that  the  purpose  of  it  could  not 
be  legally  accomplished  in  any  other  place.    No  witness  speaks 


OLD    SCHOOL    VINDICATED.  325 

of  a  motion  to  degrade,  and  the  rapidity  of  the  process  by 
which  the  choice  of  a  substitute,  not  a  successor,  was  effected, 
left  no  space  for  reflection  or  debate.  Now,  before  the  passive 
commissioners  could  be  affected  by  acquiescence,  implied  from 
their  silence,  it  ought  to  have  appeared,  that  they  were  apprised 
of  what  was  going  on ;  but  it  appears  that  even  an  attentive 
ear-witness  was  unable  to  understand  what  was  done.  The 
whole  scene  was  one  of  unprecedented  haste,  insomuch  that  it 
is  still  matter  of  doubt,  how  the  questions  were  put.  Now, 
though  these  facts  were  fairly  put  to  the  jury,  it  is  impossible 
not  to  see,  that  the  verdict  is,  in  this  respect,  manifestly  against 
the  current  of  the  evidence. 

Other  corroborative  views  have  been  suggested,  but  it  is  dif- 
ficult to  compress  a  division  of  the  leading  points  in  this  case, 
into  the  old  fashioned  limits  of  a  judicial  opinion.  The  preced- 
ing observations,  however,  are  deemed  enough  to  show  the 
grounds  on  which  we  hold,  that  the  Assembly  which  met  in 
the  First  Presbyterian  Church,  was  not  the  legitimate  successor 
of  the  Assembly  of  1S37,  and  that  the  defendants  are  not  guilty 
of  the  usurpation  with  which  they  are  charged. 

Rule  for  a  new  trial  made  absolute. 

Judge  Rogers :  I  have  nothing  at  this  time  to  add,  except 
that  my  opinion  remains  unchanged,  on  all  the  points  ruled  at 
the  trial. 

In  all  their  schemes  and  movements,  harmony,  union,  amal- 
gamation, carrying  out  to  perfection  the  great,  system  of  Pres- 
byterianism,  formed  no  part  of  their  object ;  but  change  in  every 
cardinal  feature,  perversion,  engrafture,  substitution,  revolution, 
was  visible  triumphantly  in  their  earliest  plans  and  efforts,  till 
at  last,  emboldened  by  increase  of  numbers  and  devices  of 
measures,  they  here  proclaim  their  devotion  to  voluntary  so- 
cieties, which  is  but  another  avowal  of  their  inveterate  hos- 
tility to  Presbyterianism,  in  all  the  glory  of  her  system,  her 
boards,  and  radical  features.  As  to  their  wide  and  deadly 
apostacy  from  the  standards  of  the  church,  and  fundamental 
principles  of  the  gospel,  let  him  that  doubts  *ad  the  contrast. 


^A* 


''ii'iinrf,?m,.I.'',?,?.'?,9'<=3'  Seminat7  Libra 


1    1012  01217  6246 


Date  Due 

Idy  6     '40 

''                K      '■■ 

u    io    ^ 

0   15 

CiMIP¥ 

f 

NOV?  'fli 

■^m^r"*^^- 

„msmam 

"•^ 

7  d^A^^MMaftWtfK&y 

^^ 

i**.^ 

^MMJ*!^^ 

($ 

■'M  '^'-'^ '.'' 


J- 


i 


